Three NGOs are denouncing Italy’s practice of allocating distant ports to private rescue ships carrying migrants. In this way, the lives of the rescued people are endangered, it said on Sunday. The NGOs have filed a complaint with an administrative court in Rome.
For example, there was annoyance on Sunday that the ship SOS Humanity 1 had been assigned to the Adriatic port of Ortona. This port is 1,300 kilometers from where the 199 migrants were rescued. “The captain unsuccessfully pleaded for a closer port for the severely weakened survivors who spent five days at sea, some without food or water. Italy’s practice of systematically allocating distant ports poses an avoidable risk to their health,” spokesmen for the NGOs criticized.
Right-wing government sharpens course
In Italy, a right-wing government has been in power since October, which has sharpened its course against NGOs rescuing migrants from distress at sea in the Mediterranean. She accuses them of supporting the smugglers in their operations. Therefore, the number of rescues per departure of the NGO ships is already limited, which is intended to limit the number of arrivals.
In addition, the Italian authorities assign the NGO ships to landing ports in northern Italy, which are a few travel days away from the rescue point. This approach is justified with the overburdened refugee reception centers in southern Italy.
According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, 64,930 migrants have landed on Italian shores since the beginning of the year. That is more than twice as much as in the same period in 2022.
Source: Krone
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