Libya: Vote to Renew Measures to Combat Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking*
Today (29 September), following the closed consultations on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Security Council is expected to vote on a draft resolution renewing for one year the authorisation for member states, acting nationally or through regional organisations, to inspect and seize vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya that they have reasonable grounds to suspect are being used for migrant smuggling or human trafficking from Libya. The Council initially established the authorisation through resolution 2240 of 9 October 2015 and has since renewed it annually, most recently through resolution 2652 of 29 September 2022.
In past years, the Council has adopted straightforward renewals of the authorisation, without making substantive changes to the provisions contained in preceding resolutions. This year, however, Russia apparently made several proposals regarding language on human rights violations experienced by migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean Sea, prompting substantive negotiations on the resolution text.
France and Malta are the co-penholders on this year’s resolution.
Background
The Secretary-General’s annual report on migrant smuggling and human trafficking on the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya, which covers developments from 30 August 2022 to 10 August, observed a significant increase in migrant and refugee crossings. According to the report, approximately 169,219 persons arrived in Europe along the three main sea routes across the Mediterranean between September 2022 and July, representing an increase of 51 percent compared with the previous reporting period. The central Mediterranean route accounted for approximately 133,514 refugees and migrants arriving by sea to Italy and Malta, of which most had departed from Libya (45 percent) and Tunisia (43 percent). An estimated total of 3,111 persons died or went missing in the Mediterranean Sea between August 2022 and June, representing a 77.67 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
The report said that at least 20,078 migrants and refugees were intercepted and returned to Libya during the reporting period. It emphasised that Libya remained “a port not safe for the disembarkation of migrants and refugees intercepted or rescued at sea” and that “[r]eturns to Libya by Libyan actors…violated the principle of non-refoulement”. Additionally, the report referenced the final report of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) on Libya, published on 27 March, which highlighted that “trafficking, enslavement, forced labour, imprisonment, extortion and smuggling of migrants are part of a business model, enriching individuals, State institutions and security actors and incentivizing the continuation of human rights violations”. The FFM report implicated several Libyan public entities—including the Department for Combating Illegal Migration and the Coast Guard—as actors involved in migrant smuggling, “all of which are affiliated with the State of Libya…thus making them accountable under international law”. The FFM report also found that the EU and its member states “directly or indirectly” provided “monetary, technical, and logistical support to the Libyan Coast Guard and Department for Combating Illegal Migration, which was used in the context of interception and illegal detention of migrants and refugees in the smuggling of migrants”.
According to the Secretary-General’s report, as at April, a total of 705,746 migrants and refugees were present in Libya. The report said that migrants and refugees continued to be detained arbitrarily in official and unofficial detention centres by state actors and deprived of liberty by non-state actors. The report referenced the FFM’s findings that there were reasonable grounds to believe that since 2016 “crimes against humanity have been committed against migrants throughout Libya in the context of deprivation of liberty” and that “sexual slavery, as an additional underlying act of crime against humanity, was committed against migrants”. The Secretary-General’s report said that lack of regular access by UN agencies to all detention facilities “hampers the Organisation’s ability to assess the scale of human rights violations” against migrants and refugees in Libya.
In its concluding section, the report expressed concern about the deteriorating situation of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean and said that the increase in deaths at sea are “a distressing trend that must be reversed at all costs”. The report further called for “[g]reater efforts” from countries, international and regional organisations, and private actors to conduct search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea and “save lives on this dangerous route”. The report reiterated the Secretary-General’s recommendations to EU member states to conclude a “credible and predictable agreement for disembarkation”—which would determine the re-location of migrants rescued in EU territorial waters—and to Libya to ratify all core human rights treaties and to amend its domestic legislation to align with international human rights standards.
On 28 September, at Russia’s request, the Council held an open meeting on the situation of migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean Sea. The Council was briefed by Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, Director of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Liaison Office in New York, and Pär Liljert, Director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Office to the UN in New York. At the meeting, Russia cited the increase in migrant crossings and deaths in the Mediterranean Sea, claiming that “it is clear that the mechanism provided for in resolution 2240 and subsequent Security Council resolutions is not working, or at least works ineffectively”.
Draft Resolution
France and Malta circulated the first draft of the resolution to Council members on 20 September and convened one round of negotiations on Monday (25 September). On Tuesday (26 September), the co-penholders circulated a revised draft that was open for comments until Wednesday (27 September). After the comment period, the vote on the resolution, which was initially scheduled for yesterday (28 September), was moved to today (29 September) to allow more time for discussion. The penholders subsequently placed a second revised draft under silence procedure until yesterday, which was broken by Russia. The penholders then placed a third revised draft directly in blue, without an additional silence procedure.
The Council has previously renewed the authorisation through straightforward extensions. It appears that the co-penholders’ first draft sought to do the same this year, making only technical updates to the text of the resolution. During the comment period, however, Russia apparently proposed new language reflecting the Secretary-General’s reporting on the increasing number of migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea and the human rights violations to which they are subjected. It also suggested that the resolution refer to the Secretary-General’s recommendation that EU member states conclude an agreement on disembarkation. It seems that several other Council members were supportive of including general language regarding the human rights of migrants and refugees and the need to hold perpetrators of migrant smuggling and human trafficking accountable, although some argued that the resolution was not the appropriate setting to address specific migration policies such as disembarkation.
Consequently, the draft resolution in blue includes new language on the human rights of migrants and refugees, largely drawn from the original authorisation contained in resolution 2240. Among other additions, the draft text in blue includes a new operative paragraph emphasising that all migrants should be treated with humanity and dignity and that their rights should be fully respected and urging all states to comply with their obligations under international law, including international human rights law and international refugee law, as applicable. The draft text also contains a new operative paragraph calling on all states with relevant jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute persons responsible for acts of migrant smuggling and human trafficking at sea in a manner consistent with their obligations under international law. In addition, the draft resolution in blue includes a new operative paragraph—which does not appear in resolution 2240—calling on countries to “place the human rights and the immediate needs of migrants and refugees at the core of their efforts to prevent and counter smuggling and trafficking”.
When breaking silence on the second revised draft, Russia apparently sought to replace the paragraph calling on countries to prosecute migrant smugglers and human traffickers with language urging states to ensure access to justice, accountability, and redress for survivors of human rights violations against migrants and refugees. It also proposed language limiting the scope of the call to focus prevention and counter measures on the human rights of migrants and refugees to countries “operating in the Mediterranean Sea”. Additionally, Russia reiterated its request for language referencing the Secretary-General’s recommendation to EU member states on disembarkation. Russia apparently said that the rationale for its proposals was to strengthen the draft and enhance efforts to save lives in the Mediterranean. None of the proposals was reflected in the draft in blue, however, which included only a technical edit.
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*Post-script: On 29 September, the Council adopted resolution 2698, renewing for one year the authorisation for member states, acting nationally or through regional organisations, to inspect and seize vessels on the high seas off the coast of Libya that they have reasonable grounds to suspect are being used for migrant smuggling or human trafficking from Libya. The resolution received 14 votes in favour and one abstention (Russia).
