After forced disembarkation, refugees and migrants rescued by the Nivin merchant ship still at risk in Libya

Over 90 people rescued last month in the Mediterranean Sea by the merchant ship Nivin and taken back to Misrata, Libya, remain today held in Libya in official detention centres, police custody or other similar facilities while others are still in medical centres.  These refugees and migrants had refused to disembark in Libya for fear for their safety. After a 10 day-standoff, the Libyan security forces eventually stormed the ship and forcibly removed people remaining on the Nivin on November 20.

These are people who should never have been taken back to Libya, and who, by refusing to ever set foot again in Libya and face another cycle of detention and abuses they had already experienced first-hand during their stay in the country, were claiming their rights – the right to seek safety and protection and to land in a place where their situation can be examined and their lives not endangered. 

Confirming growing concerns that boats in distress are being ignored in the Central Mediterranean Sea following the closure of nearby safe ports and hostile campaigns aimed at blocking search and rescue operations, this group of refugees and migrants say that no less than six ships turned away to avoid them before the Nivin approached them. 

MSF teams have very little information about their current situation and are not authorised to see or provide them with medical care, including following up on those we treated on the Nivin. Some are reportedly facing prosecution for acts of piracy. On November 20, we were not allowed to access the port area. “We saw ambulances leaving the port area in a hurry but the exact number of people wounded is unclear. Our information indicates that at least four people ended up in hospital with bullet wounds, suggesting a violent assault even though authorities reported using rubber bullets only.  Even rubber bullets can inflict serious wounds when fired at close range” says Julien Raickman, head of mission in Libya.  

Prior to the forced disembarkation, between November 11 and 18, MSF teams carried out over 90 medical consultations on board the Nivin. They mainly treated burns caused by a mixture of spilt fuel and seawater, skin infections and generalised pain. They also directly witnessed the despair aboard. One patient refused to be transferred to a medical facility inside Libya, stating that he would rather die on the cargo ship. 14 people (including a mother and her 4 months baby, unaccompanied minors and people who had suffered minor injuries) left the ship on November 14 and were taken to a detention centre where they remain to this day, while the rest of the group was forcibly disembarked on November 20. A dozen of them are registered as refugees with the UNHCR, and some are 13-year old minors.

They had survived periods of detention in Libya, either in official Ministry of the Interior detention centres where languish 5,000 refugees and migrants and to whom international organisations such as MSF have limited access to, or in clandestine places run by people traffickers who use torture to extort as much money as they can from their captives and their families. The scars seen by our medical teams on several patients attest to the extreme levels of violence they had experienced. 

 “Despite our repeated calls to avoid a violent outcome, no compromise was reached by the mandated protection agencies and the competent authorities to implement an alternative to detention. What happened instead has once again demonstrated the failure to provide much needed protection for people seeking safety” adds Raickman. What’s in store for people either intercepted or rescued at sea and returned to Libya remains indefinite arbitrary detention. This situation is the result of deliberate and concerted efforts by Europe to prevent refugees, migrants, asylum-seekers from reaching its doorsteps at any cost, in collaboration with Libyan coast guards.