MEDITERRANEAN: Four children lost in two shipwrecks ― People seeking asylum subjected to invasive surveillance in Greek camp ― Italy resumes transfers to detention centres in Albania ― Recriminations over Italian government’s repatriation of Libyan gen…

• Four children have died in two shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.
• A recent NGO report has revealed that people housed in the closed controlled access centre on the Greek island of Samos are subjected to invasive surveillance practices.
• The Italian government has made a third attempt to transfer people rescued from the Mediterranean to its detention centres in Albania.
• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and two members of her government are under investigation in connection with the repatriation of a Libyan general who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
• The three young men known as the ‘El Hiblu 3’ who are facing terrorism charges in Malta for hijacking an oil tanker in March 2019 have lost their appeal for the case against them to be dropped.

A shipwreck in the Maltese search and rescue (SAR) area has claimed the lives of at least two children. According to a statement issued by the Sea Punks NGO on 26 January, a third child was missing while 18 people were rescued by its Sea Punk I rescue ship. Reacting to the latest tragedy, the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) country coordinator for Italy, Nicola Dell’Arciprete, said: “For too long, the Mediterranean has been a deadly crossing for children seeking safety and a better life”. “Last month, more than 300 people died or disappeared in its waters, many having fled conflict, poverty and persecution,” she added. Dell’Arciprete also called on EU member states to use the Pact on Migration and Asylum to prioritise child protection through safe legal pathways and coordinated search and rescue operations. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) highlighted the ongoing risks of the Central Mediterranean route. While there was a 60% decrease in the number of recorded crossings in 2024, the number of deaths and disappearances only fell by 30%, indicating even greater risks for those attempting the journey. The IOM also called for urgent strengthening of SAR operations at sea, stressing that saving lives must remain a top priority in migration policies. On 27 January, 111 people, including a seven-year-old girl, were rescued by the NGO SOS MEDITERRANEE’s Ocean Viking rescue ship from two separate boats in the Maltese SAR zone. Two days later, the NGO reported that the girl had died.

A recent NGO report has revealed that people housed in the closed controlled access centre (CCAC) on the Greek island of Samos are being subjected to invasive surveillance practices. The report by I Have Rights and the Border Violence Monitoring Network revealed that 88% of interviewees reported having their phones taken upon arrival in the EU-funded centre. Although the Hellenic Police have denied confiscating people’s phones, the European Border and Coast Agency (Frontex)’s Fundamental Rights Office informed I Have Rights that the practice was “prescribed in the operational plan”. The report also sheds light on the use of two EU-funded surveillance systems that have been developed with the participation of two Greek and Israeli firms: Centaur and Hyperion. Centaur uses CCTV cameras, drones, and AI-based motion analytics to flag “threats” in the camp and its vicinity, while Hyperion relies on biometric data to control access to the facility. The report also includes demands for Greek authorities to stop phone confiscations and to ensure transparency in the deployment of surveillance technologies.

The Italian government has made a third attempt to transfer people rescued from the Mediterranean to its detention centres in Albania. On 28 January, an Italian naval ship carrying 49 people who had been rescued in international waters south of the Lampedusa arrived in the Albanian port of Shëngjin. The latest attempt comes after two previous failures in October and November 2024 when Italian courts ruled against the transfers. The cases have been referred to the Court of Justice of the EU which is due to rule on them on 25 February. Of the 49 people who entered the centre in Shëngjin, only 44 have been transferred to the centre in Gjadër while they wait for the applications to be processed. The other five, four minors and one person with health conditions, were returned to Italy due to their vulnerability. Commenting on the latest developments, ECRE member organisation the Italian Council for Refugees said: “The government is once again experimenting with the Albanian model for purely propagandistic purposes on the one hand and escalating the clash with the judiciary on the other, without waiting for the ruling of the European Court of Justice to continue operations”.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgi Meloni has X posted a video in which she announced that she and two of her cabinet ministers were being investigated by prosecutors in connection with the repatriation of a Libyan general who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). According to an ICC press release, General Osama Almasri Njeem, who had been arrested by Italian authorities and subsequently deported back to Libya, is suspected of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, rape and sexual violence. In her video, Meloni argued that the ICC warrant had not been recognised by Italy’s courts, and that she was “the target of a left-wing conspiracy” intended to “blackmail” her. The deportation incident has sparked rage among politicians and human rights organisations. The head of the opposition Italia Viva party, Matteo Renzi, has accused Meloni’s government of hypocrisy given its claimed crackdown on human traffickers. “When a trafficker whom the International Criminal Court tells us is a dangerous criminal land on your table, it’s not like you chase him down, you brought him home to Libya with a plane of the Italian secret services,” he said. The NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans said that the Italian government’s “shameful protection” of Njeem showed that its deal with Libya was “dangerous and criminal.” A group of NGOs, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), issued a joint statement in which they denounced Italy’s failure to surrender the Libyan suspect to the ICC as a “breach of its Rome Statute obligation”.

The three young men who are facing terrorism charges in Malta for hijacking an oil tanker in March 2019 have lost their appeal for the case against them to be dropped. The three men, known as the ‘El Hiblu 3’, had argued that a Maltese court had no jurisdiction over the case as the alleged crimes took place outside Maltese territorial waters and no Maltese citizens were involved. When this claim was dismissed by a court in April 2024, the trio appealed and, on 22 January, the Court of Appeal upheld the original verdict. “These facts (…) can only be decided by the jury during the trial,” the court ruled. Reacting to the ruling, one of the defendants, Amara Kromah, said he was “devastated and angry”. “When we finally had the opportunity to escape the inhumane treatments in Libya, we couldn’t afford to be returned to a place where our freedoms and safety were not guaranteed anymore and coming to Malta was the only option we had to save our lives,” he added. A group of over 30 activists who have been supporting the El Hiblu 3 said the Maltese state was out to “make an example” of the three young men “to deter others from defending their basic human rights and righteously resisting pushbacks to Libya”. Describing the court’s decision as “disappointing”, Amnesty International said that the case represented “everything that is wrong with EU institutions and member states’ migration policies in the central Mediterranean”.

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