Giorgia Meloni’s government, which considers these ships “taxis”, only allows disembarkation of immigrants rescued in danger of shipwreck
Of the more than 90,000 immigrants and refugees who have arrived in Italy by sea so far this year, only 12% have done so via NGO ships operating in the Central Mediterranean. Although the vast majority arrived on Italian territory with their own boats or after being picked up by Coast Guard or Italian Navy ships, the government of Giorgia Meloni has turned these humanitarian ships into the enemy, showing its “strong hand” against illegal immigration . For this reason, it plans to pass a decree by which it will tighten NGOs, apply more controls and new fines, while only allowing the disembarkation in Italian ports of people rescued when they were in danger of being shipwrecked. suffering.
This will end the role of “taxi” for immigrants developing humanitarian ships, according to what Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani considered this Monday. “NGOs should not play a political role, but save people at sea,” Tajani told Rai 3 television channel before taking part in a meeting with his European counterparts. It was intended to promote a common framework in which humanitarian ships dedicated to helping migrants in the Central Mediterranean should carry out their work. According to the head of Italian diplomacy, the presence of these ships exerts a “pull effect” increasing the number of displaced people who plunge into the sea from the North African coasts to try to reach Europe. It is the same statement of an internal report of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), revealed by ‘Adnkronos’, according to which many of the migrants departing from Libya recognize upon arrival in Italy that “in the absence of the ships of the NGOs refuses to leave”.
Matteo Salvini, leader of the League and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport who now promises a “tough fist” with humanitarian ships, also spoke of the “call effect” in 2018, when he served as Interior Minister and refused to allow the landings of immigrants from these ships. That climate is returning with the current government. After last week the displaced persons rescued by several NGO boats were prevented from landing for days, the Meloni Executive now intends to pass a decree so that these organizations “do not continue to act with total illegality,” said Giovannibattista Fazzolari, ” right-hand man’ of Meloni, in an interview with the newspaper ‘Libero’.
When the code of conduct that Rome’s executive wants to implement comes into force, the humanitarian boats will have to prove that the immigrants disembarking in Italy have been rescued in situations of risk of shipwreck. If they do not, they risk a fine or even seizure of their ship, according to the ‘Corriere della Sera’. Meloni also hopes to reach agreements with the African countries from which many of the migrants depart to increase the repatriation of undocumented immigrants who have arrived in Italy illegally.
Aside from the debate over these new measures to increase control over humanitarian ships, the stream of people risking their lives crossing the Sicilian Channel to try and reach Europe has not been interrupted. According to Alarm Phone, which collects the calls for help from immigrants in the central Mediterranean, nearly 200 displaced people are now at risk on four different boats. Alarm Phone reports that neither Italy nor Malta have responded to their calls for help.
Source: La Verdad
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