Sicilian fishermen’s capture escalates ‘red prawn war’ between Italy and Libya
by STEFANIA D'IGNOTI
November 23,2020
| Source:
Politico
There’s little question that Libya’s lawlessness poses a threat to European security. But while the danger of a failed state on the Continent’s doorstep remains largely abstract for most, it has become a painful reality for Insaf Jemmali.
Since September, Jemmali has anxiously waited for news of her father Farhat, one of 18 Sicilian fishermen detained in Libya by forces of militia leader Khalifa Haftar, who controls the eastern half of the war-riven country.
The 21-year-old has been checking her phone day after day, hoping for a call from Italy’s foreign ministry.
“But that call never comes, and each day passes by without knowing if he’s safe and healthy, if he knows I’ve been advocating for his release,” Jemmali said, a sob breaking her voice.
Jemmali and her family live in Sicily’s Mazara del Vallo, a key port for Italy’s fishing industry. With its proximity to North Africa, the town is home to a large immigrant community — a diversity reflected in Mazara’s fishing crews, including those who ran into trouble off Libya this summer.
The 18 fishermen — eight Italian citizens and 10 Tunisians, Senegalese and Indonesians who have been living in Sicily for decades — were stopped at sea by Libyan patrol boats on September 1.
The Libyans accused the Sicilians of fishing for red prawns, long a prized catch in this area of the Mediterranean, in waters over which Libya claims sovereignty. Their two vessels were seized, and they were brought to a detention facility in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.
They have now become entangled in a diplomatic crisis involving a stand-off over Libyan football players jailed in Italy, maritime boundary disputes and Rome’s role in the Libyan civil war.
Their families, meanwhile, feel the Italian government isn’t doing enough to bring their loved ones back home: For months, they and their community in Mazara have held protests in an attempt to put pressure on Rome.
After all, their detention touches on matters of national security: a border dispute between Libya and Italy.
“Our men are being detained even though they haven’t formally committed a crime,” Jemmali said. “They are experienced sailors who would never trespass … But unfortunately, Libyans have their own perception of sea borders.”
In 2005, the stretch of water between Sicily and Libya turned into a battlefield for Mazara’s fishermen.
That year, Libya’s then-dictator Muammar Gaddafi decided to unilaterally extend his country’s territorial waters from the internationally recognized 12 miles to 74 miles offshore. Libya’s navy would then attack foreign vessels passing by that area, perceiving their presence as an act of invasion and theft of natural resources.
Mazara’s fishermen, many of whom specialize in red prawn — a highly valued crustacean living in the deep waters of the Central Mediterranean — had been targeted by Libyan forces from the early 1990s onward, but from 2005 the number of incidents rose. Locals refer to the dispute as “the red prawn war.”
UILA Pesca, a Sicilian fishing labor union, has recorded more than 30 cases of fishermen either attacked or kidnapped in the past two decades, which has contributed to the slow but steady erosion of the local fishing industry.
While Mazara had a 350-strong fleet in the late 1990s, today fewer than 70 boats remain in the town’s port, according to UILA Pesca. Aware of the risks, the few fishermen still willing to sail the troubled waters of the Mediterranean are used to paying expensive fines for getting themselves or their vessels released.
But September’s incident is the first time the red prawn war triggered a diplomatic crisis.
In the Gaddafi era, seizures of vessels and crew were carried out by the Libyan coast guard and resolved within a few days after a show trial and the payment of fines.
The attacks continued following a 2011 uprising. Libya split into two warring political entities — the U.N.-recognized government based in Tripoli and the eastern half ruled by Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) — with the new Tripoli government advancing the same sovereignty claims as Gaddafi.
Today, Haftar’s men are using the same playbook — but they appear to be in no hurry to release the 18 fishermen.
Italy’s interests in Libya have complicated the situation. Gaddafi’s overthrow hit Italy hard, with the subsequent destabilization creating a surge in irregular migration to its shores, curbing its influence in what once was an Italian colony and threatening its significant energy interests in the oil-rich country.
During the civil war, Rome has sought to hedge its bets, trying to establish ties with Haftar while siding with Tripoli — a risky approach that further eroded its influence in Libya.
Matteo Colombo, a research fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Italian think tank ISPI, believes the detention of the 18 fishermen was meant as a message from Haftar to Rome.
“It seems like this was a reaction against the diplomatic visit of Luigi Di Maio, Italy’s minister of foreign affairs, in Tripoli,” Colombo said. “In fact, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they were kidnapped on September 1,” the day of Di Maio’s visit.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to comment, but Jemmali says there have been negotiations between Italy and Haftar’s forces to liberate the 18 men.
“They told us via texts that they are working on the case, but have to keep a low profile considering how delicate the situation is,” she said.
Colombo also believes that Italian intelligence is in contact with their Libyan counterparts, but given Italy’s dwindling leverage in Libya — as well as the difficulty of dealing with an unrecognized administration — it’s been more difficult to negotiate a release through diplomatic channels.
Theme(s): Others.
