MEPs call for end to EU support for all Libyan security forces
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Thirty-eight Members of the European Parliament from four political groups have urged the European Commission to halt all funding and cooperation with Libyan security forces, accusing them of violent actions against humanitarian vessels in the Mediterranean.
In a letter to the Commission, the MEPs called for an immediate end to financial, technical, and operational support to the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG), the Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration (DCIM), and other Libyan entities. They argued that continued cooperation “misuses EU funds, endangers the Libyan peace process, and undermines the EU’s credibility.”
Libya remains divided since the 2020 ceasefire, with the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) controlling the west, and General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) and the House of Representatives dominating the east and south.
Despite EU claims of “constructive” dialogue with both sides, MEPs say violence at sea is escalating. Incidents include an August attack on the NGO vessel Ocean Viking by an EU-funded LCG boat. A Sea-Watch report documented 60 such incidents in recent years.
Since 2017, the EU has provided around €530 million in support to Libyan authorities through the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa and other instruments, though oversight of how the money is used remains unclear.
Civil society groups and EU auditors have criticized the funding, citing evidence of human rights abuses by EU-backed Libyan forces. MEPs also called for an EU-led Mediterranean search-and-rescue mission and the suspension of Italy’s 2017 migration pact with Libya.
A UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission to Libya of March 2023 found that some Libyan authorities that the EU supports were involved in gross human rights violations, including human trafficking, forced labour, starvation, sexual violence and torture.
The Commission has also been found guilty of maladministration by the EU Ombudsman for having refused to disclose assessments of its Libya projects.
Other requests contained in the MEP letter include the establishment of an EU-coordinated search-and-rescue mission in central Mediterranean, putting pressure on the Italian government to suspend its 2017 Memorandum of Understanding with Libya, and the call to the Commission not to engage with non-recognised entities such as forces under the control of Haftar, which has indeed happened over the past months.
A similar call from European civil society to stop financing the Libyan Coast Guard was recently dismissed by the Commission.
