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2/n ‘Madleen’ Responds to Mayday for Refugees at Sea
Upon approach, the Madleen‘s crew saw that the boat was rapidly deflating, with approximately 30–40 people on board. Given the time-critical nature of the situation, they launched a rescue Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB). While the rescue effort was underway, another vessel approached at high speed. Initially assuming it to be Egyptian––as they were in the Egyptian search and rescue zone––the crew held back, urging the vessel to assist without carrying out a forcible return to Libya, where refugees face detention, abuse, and torture, or transfer to Egypt, which is also not considered safe for asylum seekers.
As the vessel drew closer and sounded an alarm, crew members on the Madleen identified it as a Libyan Coast Guard vessel—the Tareq Bin Zayed, known for grave human rights violations and involvement in previous unlawful pullbacks of asylum seekers...