Government plans to send an Irish Naval patrol vessel to Libya as part of Operation Irini should not include training for the Libyan coast guard, a charity has warned.
In a vote scheduled for Wednesday evening, the Government will seek the support of the Dáil to send a Naval Service patrol vessel (LÉ William Butler Yeats) to Operation Irini for a period of 46 days during June and July this year.
The European Union Naval Force Mediterranean Operation Irini was launched on March 31st, 2020, with the primary mission to enforce the United Nations arms embargo to Libya due to the second Libyan civil war.
Operation Irini is also responsible for training the Libyan Coast Guard to carry out these tasks.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has raised “serious concerns” about the mission due to the involvement of the Libyan coast guard. MSF claims the Libyan coast guard is intertwined with militias and armed groups that mistreat migrants.
In a letter to Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Micheál Martin, seen by BreakingNews.ie, the humanitarian organisation said the Libyan coast guard has used "abusive tactics" including shooting at migrant boats.
"At least one Detention Centre is under the direct control of the Libyan Coast Guard," the letter states.
The letter highlights the report of the UN Independent fact-finding mission on Libya, "which supports our direct experience that migrants, many of whom are returned to Libya by the LCG, are facing grave human rights abuses".
The letter asks Government to clarify the Irish Navy's role in Operation Irini and "refuse Irish Naval training of the Libyan Coast Guard at any time in the future as part of Operation Irini and to make a statement on its decision".
MSF pointed to German refusal to take part in the operation in 2022, "due to what their Foreign Ministry described as 'repeated unacceptable behaviour by individual units of the Libyan coast guard toward refugees and migrants'."
Isabel Simpson, executive director of Médecins San Frontières Ireland, said: “As part of its life-saving Search and Rescue work in the Central Mediterannean, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has witnessed first-hand the detrimental effects of interception and forced returns of refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants to Libya, and the shocking and flagrant breaches of their human rights by the Libyan coastguard.
"We have treated people who have suffered abuse in Libya and have witnessed the horrors that refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants face in the country, whether before their attempt to cross the Central Mediterranean or after having been forcibly returned.
"MSF Ireland is concerned that any training of the Libyan Coast Guard as part of Operation Irini will support a system that contributes to the forced return of people to Libya in this continued cycle of cruelty."
