A German migrant taxi NGO has claimed the European Union and its member states have worked to allow Libyan authorities to return migrants to North Africa from EU waters.

The German migrant taxi NGO Sea Watch claimed that European Union (EU) authorities had coordinated with the Libyan coastguard last weekend to return a boat of around 40 migrants who were found in the search and rescue (SAR) area near Malta.

“Another, yet another, illegal [return]. The criminal policy of the European Union continues,” the group said, the Italian newspaper Il Giornale reports.

The group claimed to have observed the Libyan coastguard pick up the migrants when its reconnaissance aircraft, the Seabird, flew over the area.

“Based on our experience we know that the so-called Libyan Coast Guard enters the Maltese SAR zone upon direct request and authorization from the Rescue Coordination Centre in Malta,” Sea Watch said and added, “Therefore, the Maltese and European authorities coordinated the [return].”

“Europe and coastal states are trying to prevent people from getting to safety and through planes and their coordination centres they coordinate with the Libyan Coast Guard to bring these people back to a war-torn country,” they added.

Earlier this month it was revealed that the various migrant taxi NGOs, who now operate a sizeable fleet of vessels in the Mediterranean, have brought over 10,000 illegals to Italy so far this year.

Another German-based migrant taxi NGO, SOS Humanity, also expressed concerns over the prospect of a new right-win government in Italy led by firebrand conservative Giorgia Meloni and her vow to stop illegal migration, going as far as proposing a naval blockade.

“During the electoral campaign, it became very clear that the human rights of international refugees don’t count and that non-governmental search-and-rescue organizations are threatened of a massive blockade,” the NGO said.

The number of migrants who have arrived illegally in Italy in total has passed 71,000 as of the start of this month, according to statistics from the UN refugee agency UNHCR. Some have estimated the final number of arrivals for the year in Italy could top 100,000, the largest number since 2017.

 

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.