The Italian authorities have again expressed their refusal to allow the entry of migrants rescued by vessels of various NGOs in the Mediterranean and have requested that it is precisely the countries whose flags these vessels fly that should take in the migrants in question.
«We cannot bring in migrants who are rescued at sea by foreign ships operating without any coordination with the authorities,» Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi has asserted, as reported by ‘Corriere della Sera’ newspaper.
Piantedosi has indicated that migrants arriving in the country after being rescued by these vessels account for 16 percent of the arrivals, although the government deals with the other 84 percent that reach Italian shores in boats that are assisted by the authorities. «Italy will not abandon its duty to rescue people at sea, but European solidarity has to become a reality,» he said.
Thus, he has called for greater «solidarity» on the part of Europe and has insisted that it is the countries whose flags carry these ships that accept these migrants now that about a thousand of them are on board the ships ‘Humanity 1’, ‘Geo Barents’ and ‘Ocean Viking’ waiting to reach a safe harbor near the Italian coast.
The ‘Humanity 1’ is German-flagged and the other two are Norwegian-flagged. NGOs have warned of bad weather conditions, which are worsening.
MORE THAN 500 MIGRANTS STILL ABOARD THE ‘GEO BARENTS’ The NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned that the ‘Geo Barents’ is waiting for a safe port to dock with 572 people on board, including three pregnant women and more than 60 minors.
The organization has warned that despite the fact that all rescues have taken place in Maltese waters, the government has not issued rescue instructions or responded to requests for a safe harbor, which «contradicts international law.» MSF has also asked to disembark in Italy on three other occasions.
«We have 572 people on board with 572 different stories,» explained Riccardo Gatti, head of the MSF search and rescue team on board the ‘Geo Barents’. «On board is a child who is determined to go to Germany. There is his mother, terminally ill with cancer. He wants to see her one last time before she leaves,» he said.
The migration agreement reached between Italy and Libya is due to be renewed this Wednesday and will be in force for another three years. The pact, sponsored by the European Union, has involved millions of euros in financial and technical assistance to the Libyan Coast Guard, which has intercepted more than 100,000 people at sea since it was first signed in 2017.
However, the NGO has denounced the «cycle of violence funded by this agreement» and has repeatedly stated that Libya «is not a safe place for migrants to be returned.»
