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STORY: OHCHR / MIGRANTS DEPARTING LIBYA
TRT: 3:01
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 02 OCTOBER 2020, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
02 OCTOBER 2020, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations exterior
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The UN Human Rights Office is calling for urgent action to address the dire situation of migrants attempting to cross the central Mediterranean in search of safety in Europe and to tackle the shocking conditions they face in Libya, at sea, and – frequently – also upon their reception in Europe .”
3. Wide shot, briefing room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The team we sent last week to monitor the situation of migrants transiting through Libya has highlighted a cycle of violence: People who had faced unimaginable horrors in Libya were left to drift for days at sea, had their boats dangerously intercepted and were returned to suffer arbitrary detention, torture and other serious human rights violations in Libya.”
5. Med shot, journalist
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“People described the ongoing violence and insecurity they faced in Libya, including arbitrary detention, torture, trafficking, sexual violence, forced labour, sale, and other serious human rights violations and abuses.”
7. Med shot, videographer
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Many reported being intercepted on previous sea crossings by the Libyan Coast Guard, having their boats rammed or shot at, causing vessels to capsize or people to jump into the water in desperation. There were also reports that on at least one occasion the Armed Forces of Malta attempted to push a migrant boat back to Libya, and on another occasion attempted to push a boat with migrants in the direction of the Italian island of Lampedusa.”
9. Wide shot, briefing room
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Some migrants reported that commercial vessels did not come to their assistance, while others said commercial ships picked them up but returned them to Libya where they ended up in detention centres. If true, these are serious allegations of failure to assist people in distress at sea and possible coordinated push-backs that should be duly investigated.”
11. Wide shot, briefing room
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Some migrants said they had been detained for several months in Malta, with little access to daylight, clean water and sanitation. They reported severe overcrowding, poor living conditions, and limited contact with the outside world, including lawyers and civil society organisations. Migrants said they had been given only one change of clothing since they arrived. One migrant told our team: ‘You’re in jail in Libya and now you come to Europe and prison again.’”
13. Med shot, journalist
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The treatment of migrants in Europe is the result of a failed system of migration governance, marked by a lack of solidarity forcing frontline states such as Malta to bear the brunt of the responsibility. The High Commissioner is urging the European Union and its Member States to ensure its Pact on Migration and Asylum addresses these challenges head on and results in a truly common and principled approach that ensures the respect and protection of the human rights of migrants and refugees.”
15. Med shot, journalist
The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) called for urgent action to address the “dire situation” of migrants attempting to cross the central Mediterranean in search of safety in Europe and to tackle the “shocking conditions they face in Libya, at sea, and – frequently – also upon their reception in Europe,” according to a spokesperson.
OHCHR’s call follows a week-long mission to Malta from 21-26 September by a team of human rights officers during which they spoke to government officials, UN partners, migrant community leaders, civil society organisations and 76 migrants - 41 men, 22 women, and 13 children - from 25 different nationalities.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva today (02 Oct), OHCHR Liz Throssell said the team - which aimed to monitor the situation of migrants transiting through Libya - highlighted a “cycle of violence: People who had faced unimaginable horrors in Libya were left to drift for days at sea, had their boats dangerously intercepted and were returned to suffer arbitrary detention, torture and other serious human rights violations in Libya.”
For those rescued and disembarked on European shores, they are too often placed at risk of arbitrary detention, in conditions that may also amount to ill-treatment. The situation has become even more acute in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, with humanitarian search and rescue vessels being prevented from continuing their life-saving work, as well as a lack of access by civil society groups that help migrants.
Despite the dangers and suffering, migrants continue to undertake the precarious central Mediterranean journey, often multiple times, due to the absence of sufficient safe and regular migration channels.
Throssell said, “People described the ongoing violence and insecurity they faced in Libya, including arbitrary detention, torture, trafficking, sexual violence, forced labour, sale, and other serious human rights violations and abuses.”
SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Many reported being intercepted on previous sea crossings by the Libyan Coast Guard, having their boats rammed or shot at, causing vessels to capsize or people to jump into the water in desperation. There were also reports that on at least one occasion the Armed Forces of Malta attempted to push a migrant boat back to Libya, and on another occasion attempted to push a boat with migrants in the direction of the Italian island of Lampedusa.”
The OHCHR spokesperson said some migrants reported that commercial vessels did not come to their assistance, while others said commercial ships picked them up but returned them to Libya where they ended up in detention centres. She stressed, “If true, these are serious allegations of failure to assist people in distress at sea and possible coordinated push-backs that should be duly investigated.”
Throssell said some migrants reported being detained for several months in Malta, “with little access to daylight, clean water and sanitation. They reported severe overcrowding, poor living conditions, and limited contact with the outside world, including lawyers and civil society organisations. Migrants also said they had been given only one change of clothing since they arrived. One migrant told our team: ‘You’re in jail in Libya and now you come to Europe and prison again.’”
OHCHR said at the closed detention centre the team visited, there were multiple reports of self-harm and attempted suicide. There have also been several protests within detention centres in recent months, with security forces called in to restore order.
The High Commissioner has noted that the pressures on the reception system in Malta have long been known, but the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly made an already difficult situation worse. She is also stressing that, despite the difficulties, human rights must always be upheld and those who are confined, out of sight as it were, must not be forgotten.
SOUNDBITE (English) Liz Throssell, Spokesperson, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“The treatment of migrants in Europe is the result of a failed system of migration governance, marked by a lack of solidarity forcing frontline states such as Malta to bear the brunt of the responsibility. The High Commissioner is urging the European Union and its Member States to ensure its Pact on Migration and Asylum addresses these challenges head on and results in a truly common and principled approach that ensures the respect and protection of the human rights of migrants and refugees.”
The mission to Malta is part of a wider project by the UN Human Rights Office to look at issues concerning migrants in Libya and the neighbouring region, including the human rights protection of migrants in Libya, at sea, upon reception and in the context of return.
