Middle East & Africa | An EU-funded horror story

Europe is bankrolling a force that routinely abuses African migrants

Libya’s coastguard is not known for its professionalism

|TRIPOLI

THE JOURNEY of the Geo Barents was a long, tense stand-off punctuated by moments of frantic effort. For weeks the ship, operated by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a French-founded medical charity, bobbed in international waters off Libya’s Mediterranean coast. Its crew watched for boats full of migrants—as did patrols run by Libya’s coastguard, which has threatened aid-workers who try to stage rescues. From time to time, the radio would crackle with warnings. “You have to sail away from this zone,” coastguard officials would say. “Otherwise immigrants will see you and sail towards you.”

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “An EU-funded horror story”

Beware the bossy state

From the January 15th 2022 edition

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