In the space of 48 hours, Italy’s authorities detained three refugee rescue vessels which had just saved hundreds of lives. The news comes as Italy’s far-right government has been cracking down on both refugees and those protecting them – amid over 2,000 people dying in the crossing.
Italy: detaining refugee rescue vessels
The Spanish Open Arms charity said Italian authorities fined it €10,000 and seized its eponymous ship on Tuesday 22 August. This was after it ignored border authorities instructions not to carry out two rescues to save 170 people stranded in the Mediterranean.
Then, charity German Sea-Eye said authorities fined it around €3,000 and detained its SEA-EYE 4 ship after it performed three consecutive rescue operations which it said saved 114 lives. Plus, on Monday 21 August Germany’s Sea-Watch charity saw its ship the Aurora detained for disembarking refugees it had saved in a non-designated port.
Italian authorities are able to do this because of a law Italy’s far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni brought in.
Far-right lawmakers punishing refugees and charities
As Al Jazeera reported:
The law passed in Italy on February 24 prevents rescue ships from carrying out several consecutive rescues. Under a decree named after the interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, rescue vessels are required to request the assignment of a port and sail to it immediately after each rescue.
NGOs say the measure aims to curb arrivals, as they are forbidden from conducting multiple missions and are often required to travel to faraway ports, which increases operational costs and reduces the time for rescues.
- They also maintain that the law contravenes international law, under which it is a duty to rescue persons in distress at sea.
This is not the first time Italian authorities have used the law. As the Canary previously reported, in July authorities detained aid group SOS Mediterranee’s vessel:
After disembarking 57 people rescued off the Libyan coast on 7 July, Ocean Viking was subject to a seven-hour inspection by port authorities on 11 July.
At the time, authorities then held the group’s vessel “for an indefinite period” in port. Then, as the Canary also reported, just after the new law passed authorities detained a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) vessel.
All of this is symptomatic of the wider treatment of refugees across the EU.
Europe’s racist hostile environment
The Italian government says that more than 105,000 refugees have landed in Italy so far this year. This is more than double the number in the same period last year. Across Europe, the UN says that more than 2,000 people have also died attempting the central Mediterranean crossing since the start of the year.
As the Canary‘s Eliza Egret previously wrote:
rather than rescuing people escaping from Libya, European countries dehumanise them. They do all they can to prevent civil society organisations such as Sea-Watch from rescuing them. The EU would rather see people drown than allow people to reach Italy. Deadly pushbacks are used where authorities force refugees back into non-European waters, rather than rescue them. These are far too common, even though they’re illegal under international law. Groups like Channel Rescue say that EU pushback policies have caused thousands of deaths.
Italy’s latest legal crackdown against refugees and the people supporting them is another step in Europe’s systematically hostile and racist attitude toward Black and Brown people fleeing from war, poverty, and hunger.
Additional reporting via Agence France-Presse
Feature image via NBC News – YouTube
But the EU welcomes Ukrainian refugees with open arms. It’s clearly race based discrimination
Guess who told NATO to not destroy his country or it’ll start a refugee crisis?
Every single refugee death here is NATOs fault for destroying some country in the past.
I definitely would not pin this all on Libya as migrants are coming from all over Africa not just from instability in North Africa, you can say that there is more smuggling and it’s more of an industry post Gaddafi, but it ultimately comes down to colonialism and imperialism, it’s almost 1 to 1 with the US and Latin America, people want to seek out opportunity in richer countries for their families and to work for higher wages and there virtually aren’t any opportuninities to do that legally, but tragically for many, getting to Europe from Africa (or to a lesser extent West Asia) is much harder and much more life threatening than getting to the US from Latin America.
Imagine a world, where one gets punished for helping dying people.
No need to imagine, we live in that world.
But isn’t there any European legislative that could overrule Italian’s racist government?
No, no, I’ve never said that. I am myself highly worried about many countries going further and further right.
I just thought that maybe there is a either European or international law that prohibits hindering people that help dying people. I’m pretty sure that there used to be a naval code, that sailors must help sailors.
I am not so crazy to think that it would have a high impact, but maybe Europe could threaten cutting financial aid or whatever.
But I see your point. With many countries going racist and with even a European border militia (Frontex), it’s probably only in the interest of Europe to look away.
You mean the Pope who stood up so firmly against sexual abuse in his own house?
Dream on.
Illegal pushbacks are funded by the EU. EU countries look away or even condone them, as they don’t want immigrants either.
We must invade Italy to protect human rights and democracy in Europe.
As I’ve come to understand from the news, Italy does not have the space necessary to deal with immigrants. These centers are full. Italy asked other European States to take some of those immigrants, as they could have space for them. It is also worth pointing out that the current premier, Giorgia Meloni, was on vacation and is soon to return and adress this issue as well as other important ones. Final remark, Italian law is somewhat broken and would require a lot to fix it. (I just watch the news from time to time)
We should maybe stop polluting a but and Africa might stop being a convection oven that roasts millions of people
I agree the EU should step up. As is free movement is part of the EU, external forces such as these refugees should also be spread among the EU nations or nations that houses then should receive some type of equalization fee.
That being said, what Italy is doing is outright illegal and against international treaties of which they are a part of. And if it’s horrendous they would even consider this action.
