Italy ‘selectively’ receives immigrants by NGO boat
Italy allowed only 357 of the 572 irregular migrants to disembark aboard the Geo Barents ship of Médecins Sans Frontières, a French-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that rescues irregular migrants in the Mediterranean.
The Geo Barents ship, which has rescued immigrants with its operations in the Mediterranean in recent weeks and had been waiting for days for Italy to designate a safe port in the open sea for the evacuation of these people, was able to reach the port of Catania. yesterday afternoon.
According to the decree recently adopted by the right-wing coalition government led by Giorgia Meloni, the 572 migrants on board were not allowed to disembark. According to news from the Italian press, the authorities on board the ship evaluated the health conditions of the immigrants one by one and gave the green light for the disembarkation of only 357 people whose situation was considered delicate. 215 immigrants remained on the ship.
“A rescue operation can only be considered complete when all evacuees are evacuated to a safe place,” MSF said in a statement. The partial and selective evacuation proposed by the Italian authorities cannot be considered legal under international maritime law.” expressions were used.
NGO WILL PRESENT A CASE BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT OF ITALY
The Humanity-1 ship of the German-based NGO Sos Humanity, which was the first ship to dock in Catania port yesterday morning, was able to evacuate 144 of the 179 migrants on board. On the other hand, 35 people were evaluated as healthy without any type of urgency and remained on the ship.
In a written statement from SOS Humanity, it was reported that the Italian authorities ordered the ship Humanity-1 to leave the port with these 35 people, but the captain of the ship did not agree to leave the port before the evacuation of all those rescued.
In the statement, it was indicated that SOS Humanity will take legal action against the decree of the Italian government, which led to the practice that did not allow the disembarkation of 35 people.
A tripartite decree signed by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini, the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, and the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, prohibited the Humanity-1 and Geo Barents ships from stopping in Italian territorial waters beyond the time needed to provide assistance to persons on board whose situation is urgent (BRITISH AUTOMOBILE CLUB)