A score of NGOs have denounced Thursday that the migration decree law promoted by the Italian government prevents «providing assistance to people in distress at sea» and have called for its withdrawal.
In a statement, the organizations, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), have expressed their «deepest concern» in this regard and indicated that the measure «will reduce rescue capabilities at sea and make the central Mediterranean, one of the deadliest migratory routes in the world, more dangerous.»
«The decree is manifestly aimed at search and rescue NGOs, but the real price will be paid by people fleeing across the central Mediterranean who find themselves in distress,» the document states, noting that «civilian rescue ships fill the vacuum that European states have deliberately left after discontinuing their search and rescue operations.»
In this regard, the NGOs have highlighted their «essential role in filling this gap and preventing further loss of life at sea, while respecting the applicable legislation».
However, they have pointed out that «European Union member states — in particular Italy — have been trying for years to hinder civilian search and rescue activities through defamation, administrative harassment and criminalization of NGOs and activists.»
Therefore, they have recalled that «there is already a comprehensive legal framework for search and rescue activities, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR Convention).»
However, the Italian government has introduced «another set of rules for civil search and rescue vessels, which hinder rescue operations and put people in distress at sea in greater danger.»
Thus, the Italian government requires civilian rescue vessels to proceed immediately to Italy after each rescue. This delays salvage operations, as vessels often carry out several rescues over several days.
«Instructing NGOs to proceed immediately to a port, while other people are in distress at sea, contradicts the master’s obligation to provide immediate assistance to persons in distress, enshrined in UNCLOS,» they have warned.
The NGOs have recalled that this strategy is designed «to keep rescue vessels out of the rescue zone for prolonged periods and reduce their ability to assist persons in distress.» «NGOs are already overwhelmed due to the absence of a search and rescue operation by States and the reduced presence of rescue vessels will inevitably result in more people drowning at sea,» they have pointed out.
The decree also states that it is mandatory to collect data on board rescue vessels from survivors who express their intention to seek international protection and to share this information with the authorities.
In this regard, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stipulated that «it is the obligation of States to initiate this process and a private vessel is not an appropriate place for this and has stated that asylum applications should only be processed on land, after disembarking in a safe place and once immediate needs have been met.
«The Italian decree law contradicts international law, human rights and European law, and should therefore trigger a strong reaction from the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Member States and the European institutions,» states the document, which calls on Italian MPs to vote against the text in Parliament.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)