Sea-Watch spokesperson Giulia Messmer said the incident is part of a pattern of growing attacks.
“We saw in the last couple of weeks that the violence on the central Mediterranean is escalating … this is definitely not a single occurrence,” she told POLITICO.
Sea-Watch reported that a Corrubia-class patrol boat — identified as belonging to Libya — ordered the Sea-Watch 5 to turn north, a move that would have interrupted the rescue. When the crew did not comply, the patrol boat opened fire, the organization said.
The NGO issued a mayday call and a Frontex surveillance plane later confirmed the Libyan vessel trailing eight nautical miles behind, according to Sea-Watch. The Italian-built boat involved was supplied to Libya in 2018 as part of an EU-backed effort to curb irregular migration, despite repeated allegations of human rights abuses.
The incident mirrors an attack on Aug. 24, when the rescue ship Ocean Viking, operated by the French NGO SOS Méditerranée, came under fire from a Libyan patrol boat financed by EU funds via Italy’s SIBMMIL program, triggering a major political row in Italy and abroad.
Friday’s incident also comes two days after the European Commission defended continued cooperation with Libya, following a letter signed by multiple NGOs urging Brussels to suspend ties.
“What on earth more does the European Commission need to suspend its support for this reckless, unaccountable force?” Judith Sunderland, Associate Director of Human Rights Watch, said on Friday.
“We see no real commitment to Europe’s proclaimed values and will continue to question the current political approach, which offers no security to European citizens or to people who have the right to seek asylum in the EU,” Messmer said.