Reprimand for Italy – EU: “Rescuing refugees is a moral duty”

The EU is not responsible for coordinating rescue operations at sea, but it is a moral and legal obligation for EU member states to rescue people, a European Commission spokeswoman said Thursday afternoon during Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s visit to Brussels.

After ten days at sea and eleven unanswered landing requests from authorities in Italy and Malta, the “Humanity 1” of the German aid organization “SOS Humanity” is still pushing for a safe haven for 179 rescued people in the central Mediterranean.

NGO: Influenza infection spreads on board
Meanwhile, the health situation on board is deteriorating, the NGO warned, and a flu infection has spread. In addition to the “Humanity 1”, the “Ocean Viking” of SOS Méditerranée and the “Geo Barents” of Médecins Sans Frontières are also waiting at a port assigned to land the boat migrants. Recently there were just over 234 migrants on the “Ocean Viking” and 572 on the “Geo Barentsz”. The volunteers rescued them in several missions over the past few days.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi joined a meeting of the MED5 group, which includes Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Spain, via video conference on Thursday afternoon. At the meeting, Piantedosi stressed the need to develop a common position for all five Mediterranean countries to regulate “migration flows”.

“Change of strategy” required
Italy’s interior minister called for a “change of strategy” by strengthening channels for regular access to the EU, including intensifying relations with the countries of origin and transit of migrants. This approach aims to fight human trafficking, Piantedosi said.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani replied that, according to the principle of subsidiarity, Europe should tackle the issue of immigration. “The issue of NGO ships is not a German matter, but a matter of European law. We demand that all ships that take people on board at sea, when they want to dock in an Italian port, tell us how many people are on board and where they come from. We need a full report. It’s a matter of national security,” Tajani said.

Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini was even clearer. He appealed to the flag country of the ships to receive the rescued people. “Where should a Norwegian ship go? Easy, to Norway…”, the Lega boss wrote in a tweet.

In a letter, the German government has asked the Italian government to take in the 179 people who have been on board the rescue vessel Humanity 1 for days. According to the German government, “civil organizations committed to rescuing migrants are making an important contribution to saving lives in the Mediterranean”.