Berlin/Rome – Together with Sea-Watch 5 crew members, the rescue organization Sea-Watch has filed criminal complaints in Germany and Italy against the so-called Libyan coast guard. During a rescue operation in international waters on 26 September 2025, the crew of the Sea-Watch 5 and 66 rescued people were harassed, threatened, and ultimately fired upon by a Libyan patrol boat. The complaints filed include severe allegations such as piracy as defined by the SUA convention and UNCLOS. Moreover, Italy and Germany must end all cooperation as they bear direct responsibility by legitimising and supporting the forces involved. The patrol vessel used in the incident night had previously been provided to Libyan units by the Italian government.
Sea-Watch is calling on the Italian and German authorities to investigate the case and hold the perpetrators accountable.
Spokesperson Giulia Messmer states:
“Despite or rather because of massive violence against people fleeing, Libyan militias continue to receive political support and recognition from EU member states. Just last year, the German government decided to allow the Bundeswehr to train the so-called Libyan Coast Guard. Impunity effectively amounts to encouragement of further violence. The European Union must, instead, end all cooperation.”
The Libyan patrol boat repeatedly ordered the crew to abort the rescue operation and leave the area, despite the fact that the operation took place in international waters and was mandated by international law. They issued repeated threats, carried out dangerous manoeuvres in close proximity to the vessel, and placed both the rescued people and the rescue crew in acute danger. Eventually, a shot was fired, prompting the captain to issue a Mayday call. The attacking vessel only withdrew once an aircraft of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex arrived.
Already on 24 August 2025, the so-called Libyan coastguard had fired upon the rescue vessel Ocean Viking, operated by the NGO SOS MÉDITERRANÉE, for 20 minutes. These attacks are just the latest in a long series of violent incidents that civil rescue organizations have monitored and witnessed over the years.
The complaints are filed while both ships of Sea-Watch – the Sea-Watch 5 and the Aurora – are currently being detained in Italy for refusing to communicate with the very same Libyan militias that shot at them last year. For years, people fleeing have been intercepted at sea by Libyan units, often through the use of extreme violence, and forcibly returned to detention and abuse in Libya. In response, Sea-Watch has joined other civil search and rescue organisations in forming the alliance Justice Fleet. The coalition collectively refuses to communicate with these militias.
