Italy’s Court of Cassation, the highest appeals court, has confirmed that the return to Libya of migrants pulled from the sea is illegal. This decision was welcomed by charity and human rights organizations, Reuters and Agerpres report.

The Court of Cassation upheld the sentence of the captain of the Italian tug Asso 28, which in 2018 rescued 101 migrants from a rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea and returned them to Libya. The rescue operation took place in international waters, about 105 km off the coast of Libya, the Court said, noting that pregnant women and children were among the migrants.

The captain was sentenced to one year in prison for crimes related to abandoning minors or incapacitated persons, as well as for arbitrary disembarkation and abandonment of people. However, it is unlikely that he will be jailed, given that under the Italian system, sentences of up to four years are usually not served in prison.

The decision of the Court of Cassation is final and upholds the previous decisions of the two lower courts. It was announced on February 1, but published by the Italian press over the weekend.

Italian justice has decided that Libya is not a safe country for migrants to return

Italy and other European governments have adopted increasingly tough policies on immigration in recent years amid growing support for far-right parties that want to stop arrivals by sea from North Africa.

The crossing from Libya to Italy is one of the most frequented sea migration routes.

“There is now a court precedent that confirms what we have been saying for years: Libya is not a safe country,” the group Mediterranea Saving Humans responded on the “X” network, formerly Twitter. The Italian office of Amnesty International welcomed the decision of the Court of Cassation, criticizing the government for cooperating with the Libyan authorities on the issue of migration.

Under international humanitarian law, migrants cannot be forcibly returned to countries where they are at serious risk of ill-treatment. Numerous cases of ill-treatment of migrants have been widely documented in Libya.

In 2018, the actions of Asso 28 attracted the attention of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which expressed concern about a possible “violation of international law”.