The relatives of persons who were on a boat carrying 110 migrants in Malta’s Search and Rescue zone fear that the passengers have been abducted to Libya and are being held in a military prison in Benghazi, humanitarian NGO Alarm Phone has stated.
On 18 August, the NGO said that a group of some 110 people were in danger in Malta’s Search and Rescue zone after shots were fired by a vessel flying a Libyan flag.
The migrants were trying to reach Greek shores, but somehow found themselves in Malta’s waters. Contact with the boat was lost soon after they informed Alarm Phone about the shots fired.
Later on that evening, Alarm Phone contacted the Greek coastguard, who said that they could not reach the distressed but that Malta was handling the situation.
The NGO said that it then contacted RCC Malta, only to be put on hold for a long time before the call was cut.
“We called again but the call was ended once more. We called a third time, were put on hold for six minutes, then the call was ended.”
The day after, Alarm Phone contacted the Greek authorities once again, who shouted at them and told them that Malta was responsible for this case, not the Greek coastguard.
Contacting the Greek authorities once again six hours later, the officer on duty informed Alarm Phone that they were aware of the case, and that they had sent a boat to the location but could not find the migrants.
At noon, Alarm Phone was able to speak to RCC Malta once again, the officer on duty said that he was simply “the operator” and could not give the NGO any information. He also said that he was unable to point them to someone responsible.
On 20 August, relatives of the people on board contacted Alarm Phone and told the NGO that they feared that the persons on board the boat had been abducted to Libya and are being held in a military prison in Benghazi.
“Currently, we are trying to find more information regarding the people who had fled from Lebanon, reached the Search and Rescue zones of two EU member states, only to be forced to Libya where they are at risk of facing extreme forms of violence,” the NGO said on Sunday.
Source : NEWSBOOK
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