Policy decisions of EU member states and Libya caused deaths along the central Mediterranean route, according to a report from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Wednesday.

The report covers the period from January 2019 to December 2020. It is primarily based on interviews with migrants, government officials and relevant experts. At least 2,239 migrants died during this period while crossing the central Mediterranean Sea from Libya to the European States. In 2021 alone, at least 632 people have died along the route.

According to the report, the deaths and damage on the central Mediterranean route were not a “tragic anomaly” and could have been prevented. The lack of human rights protection for migrants during their journeys is a consequence of the environment created by the “concrete policy decisions and practices” of the Libyan authorities, the EU and its members, and other actors.

The report confirmed that the EU and its member states have substantially reduced their maritime search and rescue (SAR) capacity in the last two years. Further, numerous humanitarian NGOs have been forced to suspend or decrease their operations. Simultaneously, the threat of being pushed back and interception or forcible return by the Libyan Coast Guard has increased. If returned to Libya, the migrants face the risk of human rights violations and abuses by both state and non-state forces.

The report recommends that the states in the region, the EU Border and Coast Guard Agency, the EU Naval Force, the European Commission, and other stakeholders should “urgently reform their SAR policies, practices, funding and cooperation to promote more principled and effective migration governance that prioritizes the protection of migrants” and is consistent with the requirements of international law.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged the Libyan government, along with the EU and its member states, to change their policies to safeguard the migrants. Earlier, Bachelet had described the Mediterranean crisis as a “lethal disregard for desperate people.”