Desperate refugees have now been labeled hi-jackers and
pirates when the briefly took control of the merchant ship that had rescued
them. They group commandeered the ship,
the El Hiblu 1, and turn it toward Europe when they learned that it heading
back to Libya. The 108 refugees efforts to reach their destination was called
"an act of piracy."
Rather than accuse them for trying to escape their fate,
Medicins Sans Frontiers wrote that the "desperate and dangerous
situation" underscored "the broken system at sea and the despair of
vulnerable people."
"Imagine escaping from a concentration camp," wrote
the rescue group Mediterranea Saving Humans on social media. "During the
escape they catch you and want to bring you back. Would you rebel? So they made
the 'pirates' of the freighter El Hiblu 1, to save themselves and their
children. Imagine, then judge."
Libya as documented by numerous aid agencies in countless
reports is not a safe haven. Tens of thousands of refugees who have been
returned to Libya are forced to live in conditions which the United Nations has
called "an outrage to the conscience of humanity." At Libyan
detention centers migrants are locked up indefinitely with no access to medical
care, little food, and the constant threat of rape, torture, and human
trafficking.
The European Union announced it would suspend its sea-based
patrols of the Mediterranean Sea, which have allowed the E.U. to rescue
thousands of migrants and refugees in recent years.
The end of the E.U.'s sea rescues will mean "more
interceptions by Libyan forces and return of women, men, and children to
nightmarish conditions and treatment in Libya," explained Judith
Sunderland, associate director for Europe at Human Rights Watch.
We applaud the bravery of the refugees who took action to
avoid being sent back to Libya.
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