An update on my post about the gang rapes of undocumented and refugee women and EU responsibility
On January 15th, I wrote “In the name of European safety: the gang rapes of undocumented and refugee women”. In the post I pointed to the European Union’s responsibility for the situation of migrants crossing through Libya trying to reach Europe with one caveat:
The last available data I could find is from 2009. There is no further information about the funding of these detention facilities in the post Gaddafi regime.
Today Statewatch has released a new batch of data regarding the post Gaddafi situation and the EU’s involvement in stopping undocumented migrants while they are in Libya to avoid dealing with asylum requests once they reach EU territory. From “Italy/Libya: Documents unveil post-Gaddafi cooperation agreement on immigration”:
Within the framework of bilateral cooperation, activities that were previously agreed to build a health centre attached to the “reception” centre in Kufrah will resume to provide first aid services to “illegal” migrants who arrive there from the surrounding areas.[…]
The Italian authorities will be immediately informed, whereas Libya has committed to reinforcing its land and sea borders to counter the departure of migrants from its territory. Italy commits to “immediately enact” its programme to supply Libya with the technical means and equipment that it asked for to improve surveillance of its borders. Activities concerning the project for a border monitoring system in the south of Libya will be resumed, as will the Sah-Med (Sahara and Mediterranean) project, both of which were agreed with support from the European Commission.[…]
As the title of Guido Ruotolo’s article that accompanied publication of the Tripoli Declaration and the official record of the meeting between interior ministers Cancellieri and Al-Taher Abdulali noted, it appears that cooperation will follow the trail beaten when Gaddafi was in charge. It should also be noted that most migrants who arrive in Italy from Libya are not Libyan citizens, thus references to “returns” largely concern migrants who crossed Libya as a transit country en route to Italy, reminiscent of the readmission of third country nationals who have suffered human rights violations in the north African country over the last few years.
In closing, the article states:
The EU and Italy are imposing tight border control regimes abroad in order to enact free movement within the EU. In doing so, they are attempting to cut off largely unregulated and age-old migration flows that are acknowledged as beneficial for the countries concerned, just like freedom of movement was introduced by EU countries for their own benefit. Effectively, the EU is paying countries to impose policies that are detrimental for them and to establish anti-immigration apparatuses that foster racism and lower human rights standards, at a huge expense.
Moreover, the EU is promoting, funding and training a system that results in systematic gang rapes and unspeakable sexual violence for migrants. Since the crimes happen in what is presented as a “non EU regulated” area (though funded through European taxpayers) there need not be any accountability or justice for the victims. As long as they do not reach EU borders, the State can continue claiming they are not “our” responsibility.
For the past decade and a half I have been making all my content available for free (and never behind a paywall) as an ongoing practice of ephemeral publishing. This site is no exception. If you wish to help offset my labor costs, you can donate on Paypal or you can subscribe to Patreon where I will not be putting my posts behind a lock but you'd be helping me continue making this work available for everyone. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter for new post updates.