Campaigners demand Italy ends 'death sentence for migrants' in Libya

Campaigners in London protested at the Italian Embassy today to demand it ends its brutal treatment of migrants.

The Italy-Libya Memorandum means migrants are pushed back into Libyan detention centres, where they are subjected to abusive treatment including torture, rape, enslavement, starvation and death. Some 50,000 migrants have been caught in this system since 2017. This deal is due to be renewed on 2nd November in a move which campaigners have called "a death sentence for migrants".

Campaigners in London protested at the Italian Embassy yesterday to demand it ends its brutal treatment of migrants. Italy has a deal with Libya that means that migrants are pushed back into Libyan detention centres, where they are subjected to abusive treatment including torture, rape, enslavement, starvation and death. Some 50,000 migrants have been caught in this system since 2017.

This deal is due to be renewed on 2nd November in a move which campaigners have called "a death sentence for migrants".

Refugees in Libya, a group of self-organised people on the move stuck in Libya, have been protesting against the inhumane conditions established by the deal, in front of the UNHCR office in Tripoli, Libya since October 2021, despite a brutal crackdown by the authorities. To date, more than 300 of those arrested in the violent eviction of the protest camp in January 2022 are still detained.

The protest today was one of ten that took place in major cities across Europe as part of the International Day of Action led by Abolish Frontex, Diritto di migrare-diritto di restare and Solidarity with Refugees in Libya. In London, a coalition of groups came together to stand in solidarity with migrants in Libya, including Campaign Against Arms Trade, Migrants' Rights Network, Channel Rescue, All African Women's Group and London CAAT.

Fizza Qureshi, CEO of the Migrants' Rights Network said: "Today is an important day to remember all those who have lost their lives due to Fortress Europe. We are proud to stand in solidarity with all those experiencing violence at the hands of Europe's borders, including here in the UK. With a Government intent on pursuing laws to increasingly restrict the ability to seek asylum and safety here, it is more important than ever that we challenge these increasingly hostile and cruel legislations. At MRN, we believe the freedom to move is an integral part of the human experience and we must stand against the demonisation of migratised people."

Amber Rose Dewey of Campaign Against Arms Trade said: "The renewal of the Italy-Libya Memorandum would be a death sentence for migrants. The push backs of people making the crossing to Europe has resulted in arbitrary detention in Libya in abhorrent conditions, including torture, rape, enslavement, starvation and death. We came together in London today to stand in solidarity with those resisting in Libya and all people who have died due to violent militarised borders."

Campaigners staged protests in Barcelona, Berlin, Bern, Brussels, London, Madrid, Milan, Naples, Rome, Zurich and a number of other cities. The protests were part of a day of action called by Abolish Frontex, Diritto di migrare-diritto di restare and Solidarity with Refugees in Libya.

In London, Campaign Against Arms Trade, Migrants' Rights Network, Channel Rescue, All African Women's Group, London CAAT and numerous activists joined this day of action outside the Italian embassy in London.

On November 2, 2022 the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be automatically renewed for another three years, unless either the Italian or the Libyan government cancel it. The continuation of this memorandum will consolidate the inhumane conditions in Libya for people on the move.

The MoU regulates the cooperation between Italy and Libya on security and irregular migration, which includes: technical and technological support to the so-called Libyan coast guard; the completion of Libya's southern land border control system; financing of the local detention centres. It is mainly funded by the EU and implemented by the European border agency Frontex.

In 2012, Italy was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for practising push-backs of people on the move to Libya. To by-pass this sentence, the MoU was signed in 2017. It has since been widely contested and denounced by Amnesty International, other human rights NGOs, UNHCR, the United Nations (UN) and the European Union itself.

LINKS

CAAT: https://caat.org.uk/
Abolish Frontex: https://abolishfrontex.org/