Three NGO ships are stranded in the Mediterranean as Italy and Malta fail to greenlight entrance into port.
More than 500 people are on board the Geo Barents as a storm hits the Mediterranean Sea
[Candida Lobes/AP Photo]
By Federica Marsi
Published On 5 Nov 2022
Three charity-run vessels in the Mediterranean Sea are awaiting permission to disembark in Italy or Malta, as those on board need urgent assistance amid dwindling supplies and worsening weather conditions.
The vessels operated by Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF), SOS Mediterranee and SOS Humanity, have been at sea for more than a week, carrying nearly 1,000 people in total.
Italy’s new right-wing government has acknowledged the receipt of their requests to disembark but has stopped short of greenlighting their entrance into port.
“The latest request was made yesterday evening but we received no response,” Riccardo Gatti, MSF team leader on board the Geo Barents, told Al Jazeera via video message.
Similar requests forwarded to the Maltese government have gone unacknowledged.
Gatti said on Saturday the Geo Barents had entered Italian waters to find shelter from an incoming storm, carrying 572 people on board, including an 11-month-old and three pregnant women.
MSF media adviser Candida Lobes said water was being rationed and food supplies were also dwindling. Due to overcrowding, respiratory and skin infections were also spreading.
“The situation is simply unacceptable,” Lobes said.
International obligations
European maritime-humanitarian organisation SOS Mediterranee has called on authorities to comply with international obligations and provide a predictable system of disembarkation.
“Survivors retrieved from distress at sea must no longer be traded into political debates,” the organisation said in a statement on Thursday.
Elisa Brivio, a press officer at SOS Mediterranee, told Al Jazeera that 234 people were on board its Ocean Viking ship, including 40 unaccompanied minors.
“Not everyone can sleep below deck, we prioritise women and children,” Brivio said. “The others are sleeping outside and yesterday we installed some protective tents to shield them from the winds and the storm.”
Among those rescued, many bear the signs of torture and mistreatment.
Till Rummenhohl, head of operations at SOS Humanity, said the 179 people on board the Humanity 1 were “fleeing from detention camps in Libya, where they faced great violence”.
Should no country offer a post of safety, they may be pushed back into international waters.
“[This] would be a clear breach of international law and the Geneva Convention,” Rummenhohl told Al Jazeera. “It’s their human right to apply for asylum and seek safety.”
Italy’s far-right government
Italy last month formed its first far-right-led government since the end of World War II, with Giorgia Meloni becoming the first woman to serve as prime minister.
Rome has insisted that the countries whose flags these NGO boats are flying should bear responsibility for the migrants and refugees on board.
The Norwegian flag-bearing Ocean Viking and Geo Barents and the German-flagged Humanity 1 have been prevented from docking, while Italian patrols, including one carrying 456 people that arrived in Calabria on Thursday, were allowed to disembark.
Italy’s new interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, told local media the government had intended to give flag-bearing countries an “immediate signal”.
“We cannot bear the burden of migrants collected at sea by foreign vessels operating systematically without any coordination with local authorities,” he said.
Piantedosi drafted new measures, alleging that the non-governmental groups violated procedure by not properly coordinating their rescues, a step setting the groundwork for Italy to close the ports.
Charities have denied circumventing procedures and say it is their duty to rescue people in distress at sea.
The German embassy this week urged Italy to provide swift help, saying NGO ships made an important contribution to saving lives at sea.
Norway said it bears no responsibility under human rights conventions or the law of the sea towards people taken on board private Norwegian-flagged vessels.
According to the United Nations refugee agency, coastal states such as Italy and Malta are obligated to accept people from rescue ships “as soon as practicable” and governments should cooperate to provide a place of safety for survivors.
“It is frankly absurd that the Italian and Maltese governments have not yet offered them a place of safety,” Matteo De Bellis, a researcher on asylum and migration at Amnesty International, told Al Jazeera.
“This incident signals a step back by Italian authorities in particular since the new government is resurrecting policies that we have seen implemented already in 2018 and 2019,” De Bellis added, referring to a “closed ports” policy implemented by then-Interior Minister and far-right leader Matteo Salvini.
“These policies were and continue to be in breach of international law,” he said.
“It is clear that European states must share responsibility for assisting people in need, but it is equally clear that Italy and Malta must cooperate in good faith to ensure that people rescued at sea are provided a place of safety.”
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
Italy closes its ports to rescue ships, leaving 1,100 migrants in limbo
By —Colleen Barry, Associated Press
By —Emily Schultheis, Associated Press
By —Emily Schultheis, Associated Press
Nov 5, 2022
MILAN (AP) — Two German-run migrant rescue ships carrying nearly 300 rescued people were waiting off the eastern coast of Sicily on Saturday, one with permission to disembark its most vulnerable migrants while the other’s request for a safe port has gone unanswered despite “critical” conditions on board.
Chaos and uncertainty has resulted from the decision late Friday by Italy’s far-right-led government to close its ports to humanitarian rescue ships.
Nearly 1,100 rescued migrants aboard four ships run by European charity organizations are stuck in the Mediterranean Sea, some with people rescued as long as two weeks ago amid deteriorating conditions on board.
Both the Humanity 1 and the Rise Above ships, run by separate German humanitarian groups, were in Italian waters, both seeking shelter from rough seas. The Humanity 1, carrying 179 migrants, has received permission to disembark minors and people needing medical care, but the Rise Above’s request for port for its 93 rescued people has so far gone unanswered.
By the time darkness fell Saturday, the Humanity 1 still had not received any direct communications from Italian authorities regarding evacuations, spokesman Wasil Schauseil said.
The SOS Humanity charity challenged Italy’s move to distinguish “vulnerable” migrants, saying all were rescued at sea, which alone qualifies them for a safe port under international law.
Italy’s only Black lawmaker in the lower chamber, Abourbakar Soumahoro, said he would join migrants on the ship if Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government did not act soon to aid all those blocked at sea.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Friday that the Humanity 1 would be allowed in Italian waters only long enough to disembark minors and people in need of urgent medical care.
The measure was approved after Germany and France each called on Italy to grant a safe port to the migrants, and indicated they would receive some of the migrants so Italy wouldn’t bear the burden alone.
No such provisions have been offered to the other three ships, and both the Geo Barents, carrying 572 migrants, and the Rise Above have entered Italian waters without consent despite repeated requests for a safe port. The Ocean Viking with 234 migrants remained in international waters, south of the Strait of Messina.
READ MORE: Pope decries modern-day treatment of migrants as he declares 2 new saints
“We have been waiting for 10 days for a safe place to disembark the 572 survivors,” said Juan Mattias Gil, the head of mission for the Geo Barents. Operation chief Riccardo Gatti said besides suffering from skin and respiratory infections, many on board were stressed by the prolonged period at sea.
SOS Humanity, which operates Humanity 1, alone said it had made 19 requests for a safe port, all unanswered. The boat is carrying 100 unaccompanied minors as well as infants as young as 7 months.
Italy’s new far-right-led government is insisting that countries whose flag the charity-run ships fly must take on the migrants. Speaking at a news conference late Friday, Piantedosi described such vessels as “islands” that are under the jurisdiction of the flag countries.
Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, known for his anti-migrant stance, cheered the new directive that he signed along with Italy’s defense and interior ministers.
“We stop being hostage to these foreign and private NGOs that organize the routes, the traffic, the transport and the migratory policies,” Salvini said in a Facebook video, repeating his allegation that the ships’ presence encourages smugglers.
Nongovernmental organizations reject that interpretation, and say they are obligated by the law of the sea to rescue people in distress and that coastal nations are obligated to provide a safe port as soon as feasible.
WATCH: Death toll surges as migrants try to reach Europe
“The Italian minister of interior’s decree is undoubtedly illegal,” says Mirka Schaefer, advocacy officer at SOS Humanity. “Pushing back refugees at the Italian border violates the Geneva Refugee Convention and international law.”
Most have traveled via Libya, where they set off in unseaworthy boats seeking a better life in Europe, often facing abuses by human traffickers along the way.
While the humanitarian-run boats are being denied a safe port, thousands of migrants have reached Italian shores over the last week, either on their own in fishing boats or rescued at sea by Italian authorities. On Saturday, 147 arrived in Augusta, including 59 on the oil ship Zagara that also carried two bodies.
The situation on the Rise Above was particularly desperate, with 93 people packed aboard a relatively small 25-meter (82-foot) boat. Spokeswoman Hermine Poschmann described a “very critical situation that … led to very great tensions” on board, because passengers saw land and didn’t understand why they weren’t docking.
The head of mission on the vessel, Clemens Ledwa, demanded a port of safety immediately, citing bad weather and the limited capacity of the small ship.
“This is not a wish. This is everyone’s right,’’ he said Friday night.
___
Emily Schultheis reported from Berlin.
MILAN (AP) — Two German-run migrant rescue ships carrying nearly 300 rescued people were waiting off the eastern coast of Sicily on Saturday, one with permission to disembark its most vulnerable migrants while the other’s request for a safe port has gone unanswered despite “critical” conditions on board.
Chaos and uncertainty has resulted from the decision late Friday by Italy’s far-right-led government to close its ports to humanitarian rescue ships.
Nearly 1,100 rescued migrants aboard four ships run by European charity organizations are stuck in the Mediterranean Sea, some with people rescued as long as two weeks ago amid deteriorating conditions on board.
Both the Humanity 1 and the Rise Above ships, run by separate German humanitarian groups, were in Italian waters, both seeking shelter from rough seas. The Humanity 1, carrying 179 migrants, has received permission to disembark minors and people needing medical care, but the Rise Above’s request for port for its 93 rescued people has so far gone unanswered.
By the time darkness fell Saturday, the Humanity 1 still had not received any direct communications from Italian authorities regarding evacuations, spokesman Wasil Schauseil said.
The SOS Humanity charity challenged Italy’s move to distinguish “vulnerable” migrants, saying all were rescued at sea, which alone qualifies them for a safe port under international law.
Italy’s only Black lawmaker in the lower chamber, Abourbakar Soumahoro, said he would join migrants on the ship if Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government did not act soon to aid all those blocked at sea.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Friday that the Humanity 1 would be allowed in Italian waters only long enough to disembark minors and people in need of urgent medical care.
The measure was approved after Germany and France each called on Italy to grant a safe port to the migrants, and indicated they would receive some of the migrants so Italy wouldn’t bear the burden alone.
No such provisions have been offered to the other three ships, and both the Geo Barents, carrying 572 migrants, and the Rise Above have entered Italian waters without consent despite repeated requests for a safe port. The Ocean Viking with 234 migrants remained in international waters, south of the Strait of Messina.
READ MORE: Pope decries modern-day treatment of migrants as he declares 2 new saints
“We have been waiting for 10 days for a safe place to disembark the 572 survivors,” said Juan Mattias Gil, the head of mission for the Geo Barents. Operation chief Riccardo Gatti said besides suffering from skin and respiratory infections, many on board were stressed by the prolonged period at sea.
SOS Humanity, which operates Humanity 1, alone said it had made 19 requests for a safe port, all unanswered. The boat is carrying 100 unaccompanied minors as well as infants as young as 7 months.
Italy’s new far-right-led government is insisting that countries whose flag the charity-run ships fly must take on the migrants. Speaking at a news conference late Friday, Piantedosi described such vessels as “islands” that are under the jurisdiction of the flag countries.
Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, known for his anti-migrant stance, cheered the new directive that he signed along with Italy’s defense and interior ministers.
“We stop being hostage to these foreign and private NGOs that organize the routes, the traffic, the transport and the migratory policies,” Salvini said in a Facebook video, repeating his allegation that the ships’ presence encourages smugglers.
Nongovernmental organizations reject that interpretation, and say they are obligated by the law of the sea to rescue people in distress and that coastal nations are obligated to provide a safe port as soon as feasible.
WATCH: Death toll surges as migrants try to reach Europe
“The Italian minister of interior’s decree is undoubtedly illegal,” says Mirka Schaefer, advocacy officer at SOS Humanity. “Pushing back refugees at the Italian border violates the Geneva Refugee Convention and international law.”
Most have traveled via Libya, where they set off in unseaworthy boats seeking a better life in Europe, often facing abuses by human traffickers along the way.
While the humanitarian-run boats are being denied a safe port, thousands of migrants have reached Italian shores over the last week, either on their own in fishing boats or rescued at sea by Italian authorities. On Saturday, 147 arrived in Augusta, including 59 on the oil ship Zagara that also carried two bodies.
The situation on the Rise Above was particularly desperate, with 93 people packed aboard a relatively small 25-meter (82-foot) boat. Spokeswoman Hermine Poschmann described a “very critical situation that … led to very great tensions” on board, because passengers saw land and didn’t understand why they weren’t docking.
The head of mission on the vessel, Clemens Ledwa, demanded a port of safety immediately, citing bad weather and the limited capacity of the small ship.
“This is not a wish. This is everyone’s right,’’ he said Friday night.
___
Emily Schultheis reported from Berlin.
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