The EC believes Libya is not a safe harbor but refuses to get involved in the landing
The European Commission (EC) believes that Libya is not a safe place to land immigrants on board the Spanish fishing vessel "Nuestra Madre de Loreto", but stressed that it is not their responsibility to coordinate a response in this case.
"There are different factors to take into account and in our opinion these conditions do not exist in Libya, but it is not up to us to say so," Interior Community Spokesperson Natasha Bertaud told the daily press conference.
The spokeswoman added that the Community Executive is informed of the information on the ship, which has fourteen crew on board, twelve people from Senegal, Mali and Libya and that Brussels has maintained contacts with the competent authorities, but added that the CE is not "directly involved in the coordination" of the case.
He added that the designation of a port is a matter of International Law and that therefore it is not something in which the EC "has the competence to coordinate".
In that context, he explained that since Brussels "has no competition, it would have nothing to say about the determination of a place of disembarkation".
The "Our Lady of Loreto" is located in the middle of the Mediterranean, about 100 miles north of the coast of Libya and about 120 miles from the island of Malta, waiting to be granted a safe harbor to land, then that Italy and Malta itself have refused.
Inside there are 26 people, including crew and foreigners, rescued last Friday in international waters after an incident with the Libyan Coast Guard.
