Rescue organisations operating in the Mediterranean are heading for confrontation with the Italian government over rules forbidding multiple rescues, with fines of up to €50,000.
The rules, approved by the right-wing government of Giorgia Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party was rewarded in September’s election for its stance on migration, require charities to report a rescue and head to a port proposed by the authorities.
The government has begun naming ports in the north of the country, forcing vessels to undertake long journeys away from the north African coast, where many migrant boats get into trouble. On Saturday Ocean Viking, a Norwegian-flagged ship operated by the French charity SOS Méditerranée, disembarked 113 migrants in the northeastern Adriatic port of Ravenna.
Francesco Creazzo, a spokesman for the group, said it was examining legal options to operate under international law if it conflicted with the new Italian laws. Other charities said they believed non-Italian vessels were not obliged to follow them.
“Civilian rescue organisations don’t operate in a state of anarchy,” Creazzo said. “There’s no Wild West and we’re not the Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Advertisement
More than 144,000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean to Europe in 2022, according to the International Organisation for Migration, out of more than 180,000 altogether.
The journeys of the migrants continued over the weekend. Two people drowned when a boat carrying 200 people sank off Lebanon on New Year’s Eve. Most of the survivors were Syrian, but 50 were Lebanese, a sign of the economic collapse of a country that was relatively prosperous until three years ago.
The bodies of 13 people were recovered after an inflatable boat got into trouble between Morocco and the Canary Islands. Eight people remain missing, with 24 rescued from the boat, which began to sink within minutes of leaving the port of Mirleft on Friday.
A Libyan vessel intercepted a boat containing 650 people from a variety of countries in the Mediterranean offshore from Benghazi. They were returned to shore.
European countries have used various methods, including co-operating with what passes for the Libyan navy and coastguard authorities, to discourage the migrant boats. The Italian government has taken a fresh approach with its new regulations.
Advertisement
Lawyers for Sea-Eye, a German charity, said Italy had no authority to regulate the conduct of German-flagged vessels in international waters. “Neither the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue nor the guidelines of the International Maritime Organisation provide a basis for the rules of conduct demanded by Italy,” Valentin Schatz, a member of its legal team, said.
Annika Fischer, a director of Sea-Eye, said she expected the German government to protect German-flagged ships “from the illegal behaviour of the Italian authorities and to support us in case of conflict. Any delay in operations endangers human lives.”
