Sources: Dozens of Egyptians held in Libya after migrant boat bound for Italy capsizes

Dozens of Egyptian nationals are being held in the western Libyan town of Zawiya after they survived an incident in which a boat bound for Italy capsized last week killing as many as 18 people, according to two sources who spoke to Mada Masr.

On August 23, a Zawiya coast guard posted a short video apparently filmed from a rescue vessel of a small capsized boat surrounded by a number of people at sea, saying that they rescued 51 Egyptian nationals and retrieved the body of one person, while 17 others were still missing. According to the International Organization for Migration, 1,311 deaths were recorded in the Mediterranean so far in 2021 — more than double the numbers recorded over the same period last year.

According to a list of the survivors published by the coast guard, the majority of the migrants were Egyptian, mainly from Mansoura, with some from Fayoum, Beheira and Gharbiya. There were also three survivors from Sudan, Ghana and Syria. 

One of the survivors from Fayoum, Mohamed Taha Abdel Aleem, 34, told Mada Masr that the boat was very small, though he had been told it would be much larger, and that it was carrying about 70 migrants and was not outfitted with safety equipment. 

Abdel Aleem said he was smuggled into Libya in May from Egypt via Salloum, a border town in the northwestern Matrouh Governorate, after paying LE7,000 to the brokers and promising to pay an additional LE40,000 after his arrival to Italy. A video shared widely on social media appears to show Egyptian survivors of the incident naming brokers in Egypt and Libya and saying they paid sums ranging from LE20,000 LE34,700 (US$1,274 and $2,210) for the journey.

Abdel Aleem said he and other people wishing to travel to Italy were held in warehouses in the nearby city of Ajaylat for about 13 days before being transported to Zawiya, a city some 50 kilometers west of Tripoli. “They made us board [the boat] and we were 70 [people], and if someone refused to ride they’d fire their gun. They are militias,” said Abdel Aleem. 

The Associated Press has reported that networks of militiamen, traffickers and coast guards profiting from exploiting people wishing to reach Europe are often the beneficiaries of funds provided to Libya by the European Union to prevent migrants from reaching Italy. 

Speakers in the video shared on social media say the boat’s motor failed and it began to sink off the Libyan coast just hours after departure. “The motors burned out after water started entering the boat, and by 6 am the boat sank and capsized. That’s when the Libyan coast guard came and brought a rescue boat,” Abdel Aleem said. 

According to Abdel Aleem, “Libyan authorities” later provided the survivors with treatment, water and food before holding them in detention. Abdel Aleem said his phone and 100 euros were taken from him at the detention center, and that he and around 45 Egyptian nationals who survived the incident were locked up in a room no larger than five by eight meters.

Abdel Aleem said he and another survivor managed to secure their departure from the detention site by paying 5,000 Libyan dinars to an official who helped them escape.

Rights groups have long documented systematic abuse in migrant detention camps in Libya, including allegations of forced labor, beatings, rape, torture, and extortion.

The brother-in-law of another survivor also told Mada Masr that his relative was being held in a detention center in Zawiya, claiming that a staff member at the detention center allowed his relative to speak to him on the phone. 

Dozens of residents of the village of Talbana have also told local police that their family members, who were on the boat that sank off the coast of Zawiya on August 23, are now missing and that they are unable to contact them, the privately owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper reported on Sunday.

On the other side of the Mediterranean, the Italian coast guard announced on Saturday that 600 Egyptian and Moroccan migrants had arrived to the Italian island of Lampedusa, adding that 400 of them had come through Libya and had signs of violence on their bodies. On Friday, Italian authorities rescued 100 migrants, 76 of whom were minors, 24 of whom were unaccompanied. All except for one were Egyptian nationals.

Though the number of irregular migrants arriving to Italy via the central Mediterranean route which runs from Libya and Egypt to Italy dropped in 2020 to around 17,000, it increased again in 2021 to over 35,000 people. Meanwhile, the UNHCR has reported that over 20,000 people attempting to leave Libya have been returned by coast guards this year alone. 

Egypt introduced tougher penalties for irregular immigration, people smuggling and human trafficking in 2018, after signing an agreement with the European Union to adress the root causes of the issue through investments worth 60 million euros in seven projects to be implemented in 15 governorates.

Social Solidarity Minister Nevine al-Kabbaj said in July that not a single boat carrying migrants has left Egyptian coasts since 2016, when Egypt made headlines worldwide after over 200 people were killed after a boat that departed from Rashid for Italy carrying over 300 people capsized. 

However, Egyptians continue to seek passage to the EU via other parts of the North African coastline, including Morocco and Libya, where Egyptians hopeful of reaching Europe are frequently detained.