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The newly-formed Justice Fleet has suspended contact with Libya\u2019s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, which it says \u2018coordinates\u2019 the violent acts committed by the Libyan coastguard towards asylum seekers and refugees.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n More than a dozen European search and rescue organisations have announced the formation of a new alliance and suspended cooperation with their Libyan counterpart in response to what they say are years of ill-treatment of refugees and asylum seekers making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe.<\/p>\n The 13-member alliance, which includes organisations from Germany, France, Spain and Italy, announced on Wednesday the creation of the Justice Fleet, whose mission will be to \u201cuphold human rights and international maritime law\u201d, according to a press release from NGO SOS Humanity, part of the new alliance.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The Justice Fleet also announced that it is \u201cending operational communication\u201d with Libya\u2019s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Tripoli after \u201cyears of escalating human rights violations\u201d against asylum seekers and refugees travelling by sea.<\/p>\n \u201cThe JRCC Tripoli, which coordinates the violence by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard, cannot be regarded as a competent authority,\u201d read the press release.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have never recognised these actors as a legitimate rescue authority \u2014 they are part of a violent regime enabled by the European Union,\u201d said Ina Friebe, spokesperson of Compass Collective.<\/p>\n \u201cNow we are increasingly being pressured to communicate with exactly these actors. This must stop. Ending all operational communication with the so-called Libyan Rescue Coordination Centre is both a legal and moral necessity \u2014 a clear line against European complicity in crimes against humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n The Libyan coastguard has committed at least 60 violent maritime incidents between 2016 and September 2025, according to a recent report by the NGO Sea-Watch \u2013 also part of the new alliance \u2013 which notes that the true number is likely much higher. Incidents include shooting at boats carrying refugees and asylum seekers, abandoning people at sea and hindering rescue operations.<\/p>\n At least 2,452 people died or went missing in the Mediterranean Sea last year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), making it one of the deadliest routes for refugees.<\/p>\n Libya, home to about 867,055 asylum seekers and refugees, has emerged as a transit route for those trying to reach Europe since the fall of its leader, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011.<\/p>\n During Gaddafi\u2019s rule, Africans found work in the oil-rich country. But since his ousting, Libya has been mired in armed conflict among rival militias.<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n