Rights group claims EU ‘complicit’ in Libya’s migrants abuse

By JACK JEFFERY
Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — An international rights group has accused the European Union’s border and coast guard agency of being complicit in migrant abuses by Libya by allowing the North African country’s coast guard to intercept migrant boats crossing the Mediterranean Sea for southern Europe. Human Rights Watch said in a new report released on Monday that the EU agency, known as Frontex, uses its aerial surveillance technology to help Libyan forces locate migrant boats — rather than other rescue organizations or merchant ships also patrolling the Mediterranean. Every year, thousands of migrants hoping to reach Europe make their way through volatile Libya, where a lucrative trafficking and smuggling business has flourished.