A Libyan militia belonging to the warlord Khalifa Haftar hunts down refugees in the Mediterranean and drags them to Libya. DER SPIEGEL reporting shows how Frontex and Maltese officials are involved.
By Mohannad al-Najjar, Mohammad Bassiki, Bashar Deeb, Klaas van Dijken, Alexander Epp, Maud Jullien, Steffen Lüdke, Jack Sapoch, Tomas Statius und Lina Verschwele
14.12.2023, 16.27 Uhr
Even after several days at sea, everything still seemed to be just fine, says Bassel Nahas. Together with around a hundred other refugees, the Syrian had set out from the Libyan coast toward Europe. Nahas, a 36-year-old whose name has been changed for this article, was dreaming of starting a new life in the Netherlands, hoping to bring over his wife and two children later.
The boat, he relates over the phone, was making good progress in the calm seas. They passed several Greek islands, despite drones operated by the European border protection agency Frontex flying overhead. Their goal, the coast of Italy, wasn’t far off.
But on August 18, as the ship reached the zone within which Malta is responsible for search and rescue operations, he says, a ship flying the Libyan flag approached. The passengers on board the migrant vessel called out to the Libyan crew that they had women and children on board, says Nahas. “But they accused us of having weapons and drugs, and opened fire on our boat.”
The Libyan ship pursued them for three hours, says Nahas, before violently forcing the passengers of the refugee vessel onto their own ship. Frontex says that one of their drones filmed the scene from the air. Nahas recalls that he was able to read the name of the unit the men belonged to on their uniforms: Tareq Bin Zeyad.
The Libyans, he continues, took them prisoner and brought them to the Port of Benghazi. There, in the eastern Libyan city, a place he had never been before, the men abused the refugees. “They took us inside and started beating us.” Nahas says. “They beat us until our bodies turned black from the blows.” The Libyans then threw them into the harbor. Nahas says he spent hours in the water, the salt burning his wounds.
“I lost consciousness at that moment and didn’t know if I had died or not.”
Bassel Nahas
In a building near the port, he says, he was later dressed in an orange suit of the kind victims of Islamic State would wear before their executions. Then, Nahas says, the men tied him up, stood him against a wall and opened fire. Nahas recalls how he collapsed, when he heard the gunfire. “I lost consciousness at that moment and didn’t know if I had died or not.” Only then, he says, did he realize that the men hadn’t fired at his body.
It is almost impossible to independently verify Nahas’ account of torture in Libya. But his story matches accounts from other refugees. The European Court of Human Rights ruled back in 2012 that asylum seekers on their way to Europe must not be brought to Libya because of the risk of torture and death.
Europe though, seems to ignore that risk. For years, EU officials have been working together with the Libyan coast guard. Libya is currently divided in two, with the internationally recognized government controlling the western part and a rival group in the east, which controls Benghazi. The coast guard in the western part of the country intercepts asylum seekers at sea before they can reach the coast of Europe.
The EU trains and finances the Libyan coast guard and established a rescue control center in the country. For the EU, it was a comfortable arrangement. The government in Tripoli was responsible for the country’s search and rescue zone, which is why they were sent the coordinates of refugee boats, the EU claimed for years. The Europeans accepted no responsibility for whatever happened after that.
But the routes in the Mediterranean have changed. Since summer 2022, more and more boats launched by migrant smugglers are departing from Benghazi and elsewhere in eastern Libya. And that region is not controlled by the Libyan government recognized by the EU. Rather, it is ruled over by Khalifa Haftar, a warlord with ties to the Kremlin in Moscow.
Haftar is propped up by a network of militias, including the Tareq Bin Zeyad Brigade, or TBZ – the group that Bassel Nahas says took him prisoner on the Mediterranean. The militia answers to Saddam Haftar, the warlord’s favorite son. According to Amnesty International, his men have committed rape and torture, have people disappeared and execute prisoners. According to a confidential EU report, they are supported by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group. The militia did not respond to a query sent by DER SPIEGEL.
Officially, the EU distances itself from the militia. The TBZ is not a “legitimate partner,” says a European Commission spokesman. “We don’t deal with them.”
But is that really true? Or might it be the case that the EU no longer relies solely on the coast guard in western Libya but also secretly cooperates with Haftar’s thugs in the east?
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to combat migrant smugglers. Foto: Andres Martinez Casares / EPA
TBZ militia members in one of their videos. Foto: @LibyanXIV / X
DER SPIEGEL spent several months reporting in the Mediterranean region together with the investigative organization Lighthouse Reports, Le Monde, Al Jazeera, Malta Today and the Syrian medium Siraj. Reporters involved in the project spoke with seven refugees who claim to have been forcibly taken to Libya by Haftar’s militia. They monitored position data from ships and European surveillance aircraft and examined recorded radio messages and confidential documents.
The reporting has found that the Europeans have provided assistance to TBZ operations aimed at bringing migrants back to Libya, so-called “pull-backs.” In at least three instances, it can be proven that Frontex or Maltese authorities discovered the refugee vessels that were then pulled back to Libya from the Maltese search and rescue zone by Haftar’s men – despite the fact that the Europeans, according to international treaties, are required to direct rescue operations in that zone. In some cases, the coordinates of the refugee boats were passed on to the militia indirectly, in other cases directly – and in one case, it seems the information was apparently almost forced upon them.
Haftar’s militia apparently takes care of the dirty work that the Europeans want nothing to do with. His men, more reminiscent of a criminal gang than a standard coast guard, essentially became EU henchmen – despite the fact that they also earn money from human trafficking operations in Libya.
A quick look at TikTok and Instagram is all it takes to learn more about the men who call themselves Tareq Bin Zeyad. In some videos, they can be seen posing in Gucci shirts and Louis Vuitton jackets. In others, they are wearing balaclavas and carrying machine guns as they present Jeeps and night-vision goggles. Since spring, the men have also been posing on the deck of their new ship. With long knives, they can be seen cutting up raw meat for a barbecue party, proudly raising bits of the cadaver.
A TBZ militia member standing in front of the Tariq Bin Zeyad. The ship was registered by a company headquartered in Dubai. Foto: Ob A Ma / facebook
Just seven or eight months ago, the TBZ didn’t exist on the water, says a political scientist who conducted research in eastern Libya for a report on behalf of the U.S. think tank The Sentry. For safety reasons, he requested that his name not be used. The TBZ is seen as a flexible organization that frequently takes on new tasks. In recent years, the militia has grown significantly, and is currently thought to include between 6,000 and 8,000 men.
Their ship, the Tareq Bin Zeyad, was registered by a company headquartered in Dubai. Who paid for it to be sent to Libya is unclear. But since spring, the Europeans have been keeping an eye on the ship’s operations. On May 25, a militia with connections to Haftar’s army brought migrants back to Libya for the first time, according to a confidential report compiled by the EU mission IRINI, which patrols the Mediterranean. Since then, the militia has intercepted more than 1,000 people.
How TBZ profits from European surveillance flights can be seen by an incident that took place on July 26.
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A Frontex plane identifies a refugee boat in the Mediterranean on this morning.
Shortly before the migrants reach the Maltese search and rescue zone, Frontex sends out a call for help, a “mayday relay,” to all ships in the area. Frontex says it took the step because the boat was dangerously overloaded.
According to Frontex, the Tareq Bin Zeyad is the only ship to respond to the mayday call. A translator who claims to work for the TBZ militia later told the private rescue organization Sea Watch that Frontex radioed them the ship’s coordinates. He is likely referring to the mayday relay. DER SPIEGEL is in possession of an audio recording of the discussion with the NGO.
Two merchant vessels in the area do not deviate from the course they are on. A crewmember from one of the ships would later claim to only have received part of the mayday call.
The Tareq Bin Zeyad reaches the refugees almost seven hours after the mayday call and brings them out of the Maltese search and rescue zone back to Libya.
Frontex did not ensure on that day that someone brought the refugees to a safe harbor. Contrary to standard procedures, the border protection agency only informed the rescue centers in Italy, Malta and western Libya after sending out the distress call. These rescue centers should then have been in charge of coordinating rescue activities. But they didn’t respond. When queried, Frontex said that it received no responses at all from the rescue centers.
Frontex says that it never had direct communication with TBZ in this incident or at any other time. The agency says it deemed the boat unseaworthy and felt that the people onboard the refugee vessel were in serious danger, which is why they sent out a distress signal. Later, before the aircraft left the area due to dwindling fuel supplies, Frontex said it supplied the rescue control centers with fresh coordinates and issued another mayday. This call, too, received no response, according to Frontex, which added that they are fundamentally not responsible for coordinating rescue operations.
“What the militia does is more like kidnapping than a rescue operation.”
Nora Markard, international law expert
International law expert Nora Markard, a professor at the University of Münster, sees things rather differently in this case. “Frontex officials know that people in Libya are at risk of torture and other inhumane treatment,” she says. “In this case, the agency should therefore have ensured that someone else took over the rescue after the distress call, for example one of the merchant ships, which would have been on site much faster anyway.”
Maritime law envisages a chain of responsibility. And if, as in this case, no competent actor takes on responsibility for organizing or implementing rescue operations, then the responsibility remains with Frontex. “Because what the militia is doing is more of a kidnapping than a rescue,” says Markard. “You only have to imagine pirates announcing that they will deal with a distress case. That wouldn’t be right either.”
The Tareq Bin Zeyad next to a refugee boat. Foto: Chiara Wettmann / Lighthouse Reports
The EU officials didn’t seem particularly bothered by the actions taken by the militia. In an internal briefing that DER SPIEGEL has obtained, Frontex refers to the Tareq Bin Zeyad as a coast guard patrol boat. In the report, the agency also documents that on August 16, it sent the position of a refugee ship out to rescue control centers, including the one in Tripoli. The officials there apparently passed the information along to Haftar’s men, something they say they do regularly. When it comes to refugees, it appears, the enemy camps in Libya aren’t quite as averse to cooperation. Two hours later, the Tareq Bin Zeyad intercepted the refugees in the Libyan search and rescue zone, which Frontex also recorded.
Some legal experts like Markard have long been critical of sending coordinates to Tripoli. Now, it has become clear that the Libyan rescue control center doesn’t just alert the coast guard in the western part of the country, but also passes the information onto the eastern militia TBZ, which employs even more brutal methods. Frontex did not respond to specific questions about this incident.
Frontex is largely controlled by European Union member states. Some of them apparently use all means available to stop the refugee boats from crossing the Mediterranean. Italy and Malta, especially, have been seeking to establish relations with the warlord in eastern Libya. In early May, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni received Haftar in Rome in an effort to convince him to stop refugee boats from making their way toward the EU. Italy’s interior minister spoke of possible financial assistance for TBZ and even of potentially providing training to Haftar’s people. Experts saw the meeting as a turning point. That same month, the crew of the Tareq Bin Zeyad began their work.
“Tareq Bin Zeyad. Tareq Bin Zeyad. I have a position for you.”
Radio message from August 2 on the Mediterranean
Maltese officials openly admit that they cooperated with Haftar. A high-ranking official in the capital of Valletta, who requested anonymity, says they also shared surveillance data with the regime in eastern Libya. In late May, a delegation from Malta visited Haftar in Benghazi, the official says, after which the Maltese military was charged with negotiating the details of a possible deal.
Since then, Maltese officials apparently view TBZ essentially as the official coast guard for eastern Libya. In one case, the Maltese rebuffed the private maritime rescue ship Ocean Viking, which is operated by the NGO SOS Méditerranée, instead allowing the TBZ to bring the refugees back to Libya.
And in a radio exchange from August 2, which DER SPIEGEL has obtained, you can hear a man with a Maltese accent providing the TBZ with the coordinates of a refugee vessel that is heading towards the Maltese search and rescue zone. “Tareq Bin Zeyad. Tareq Bin Zeyad. I have a position for you. Do you want the position?” the man’s voice says. In all likelihood, the voice belongs to the pilot of a Maltese aircraft that was circling the area at the time.
When contacted, Maltese officials did not deny that the radio contact took place. A military spokesman said that pilots are obliged to transmit information to ships in the area if they might be able to provide assistance. International law expert Markard, though, sees the incident as an obvious violation of the law of the sea. “One might call it pushback by proxy, with TBZ acting on behalf of Malta,” she says.
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The EU is fond of sugarcoating its efforts to seal its borders in humanitarian rhetoric. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently announced a “global alliance” to up the pressure on migrant smugglers. The “unspeakable suffering” of the refugees must stop, she said in a November 28 speech announcing the effort. She said a particular focus would be that of combating criminal networks that make money off the migrants.
Haftar’s men would be a good place to start. At times, it is impossible to distinguish them from the smugglers. In eastern Libya, they have set up a model that looks a lot like the extortion of protection money. Hardly any boats leave the Port of Benghazi without their knowledge. Migrants and Libyan insiders say it is TBZ who organizes transportation of the migrants from the airport to the coast. Only those who pay enough money there are allowed to board one of the vessels.
European diplomats have known about this for months. An internal German Foreign Ministry document that summarizes an EU meeting notes that Haftar’s efforts at stopping the migrants from reaching Europe are primarily a pretext for receiving international support. In truth, the report notes, his militia profits from human trafficking.
Bassel Nahas says it is a reality that he experienced first-hand. After 22 days of torture, the TBZ turned him over to a different armed group, he says. Only after an acquaintance of his paid 4,000 euros in ransom was he released, Nahas claims. The negotiations were conducted via WhatsApp, and DER SPIEGEL has obtained screenshots of the messages, in which the telephone number of the person demanding the ransom can be seen.
Via a Facebook account, it leads to one of Haftar’s men
Categories: Africa, Europe, Europe and Australia, European Union, Libya, Malta, migrants, North Africa, refugees