The newly established Justice Fleet has ceased contact with Libya’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center, which the Libyan Coast Guard says is “coordinating” acts of violence against asylum seekers and refugees.
More than a dozen European search and rescue groups have announced the formation of a new alliance and stopped working with search and rescue groups in Libya, following years of mistreatment of refugees and asylum seekers who make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
The 13-member alliance, which includes organizations from Germany, France, Spain and Italy, announced on Wednesday the creation of Justice Fleet, whose mission is to “defend human rights and international maritime law,” according to a press release from NGO SOS Humanity, which is part of the new alliance.
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Justice Fleet also announced it would “end operational contact” with Libya’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) in Tripoli following “years of escalating human rights violations” against asylum seekers and refugees traveling by sea.
“The JRCC Tripoli, which coordinates the acts of violence by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard, is not considered a competent authority,” the press release said.
“We have never recognized these actors as legitimate rescue authorities. They are part of a regime of violence enabled by the European Union,” Compass Collective spokeswoman Ina Friebe said.
“We are now under increasing pressure to communicate with these very actors. This must stop. Ending all operational communications with the so-called Libyan Rescue Coordination Center is a legal and moral necessity and a clear line against European complicity in crimes against humanity.”
A recent report by the NGO SeaWatch, also part of the new alliance, says the Libyan coast guard was responsible for at least 60 violent maritime incidents from 2016 to September 2025, and notes that the actual number is likely much higher. Incidents include firing on boats carrying refugees and asylum seekers, abandoning people at sea, and obstructing rescue efforts.
At least 2,452 people died or went missing in the Mediterranean last year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), making it one of the most dangerous routes for refugees.
Libya, home to some 867,055 asylum seekers and refugees, has emerged as a transit route for people heading to Europe since the ouster of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Under Gaddafi’s rule, Africans found work in the oil-rich country. But since his ouster, Libya has been mired in armed conflict between rival militias.
In August, two boats sank off the coast of Lampedusa in southern Italy, killing at least 27 people, and in June, two boats sank off the coast of Libya, leaving at least 60 refugees and migrants missing and feared drowned at sea.
Human rights groups and UN agencies have documented systematic abuses against refugees and migrants in Libya, including torture, rape, and extortion.
The EU has stepped up efforts to reduce such migration in recent years, including providing equipment and funding to the Libyan Coast Guard, a paramilitary group linked to militias accused of abuses and other crimes.
NGOs claim the phasing out of state-run search and rescue operations has made journeys across the Mediterranean more dangerous.
As a result, many people fleeing conflict and persecution are left stranded in Libya, often detained in conditions that human rights groups describe as inhumane.
