The Italian control centers are increasingly sending rescue ships with migrants on board to ports in the far north of the country. Officially to relieve southern Italy. In fact, there are probably other considerations behind it.
A new decree by the Italian government is forcing rescue ships from aid organizations to target northern Italian ports. Even in bad weather, no exception is made: For the rescue ship “Geo Barents” of the medical emergency aid organization Doctors Without Borders, this meant almost five more days on stormy seas before it finally reached the port of Ancona at 7.30 a.m. last Thursday.
Ancona is 1,500 kilometers from the Libyan search and rescue zone where the shipwrecked were rescued earlier on Saturday. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding the weather reports that did not predict well, the Italian rescue coordination centers assigned the ship to port on the Adriatic coast. The “Ocean Viking” with 37 migrants on board had to dock here on Wednesday.
“The ride was a challenge that could have been avoided at all costs,” says Germany’s Jana Ciernioch. She works for Doctors Without Borders and supports the operations of the “Geo Barents” from Rome, but is also often on board herself. So also this time. “We had meter-high waves that forced us to continue at walking pace. At some point the lower deck was completely flooded and we had to bring everyone upstairs,” says Jana Ciernioch ntv.de. “Everyone was seasick. Despite the blankets, it was of course cold, especially on the upper deck. It is irresponsible to expect something like this from people who had already been at sea for days before the rescue operation.”
“Better to die in the sea than go back to Libya”
The 73 completely exhausted people who disembarked wrapped in blankets showed how challenging the sea journey was. There were also 19 minors. Five of them required immediate medical attention.
And then there was a 21-year-old from Eritrea. During the drive, he shared his story with Fulvia Conte, an Italian MSF worker. When he was four years old, his mother emigrated to Sudan with him because she didn’t want him to be drafted into the military at the age of eight. In Sudan he worked first in a restaurant and then in a gold mine in the mountains. At some point he decided to go to Libya. Hell began there for him. “I was mistreated, tortured, exploited, beaten,” he told Conte. “That’s why I wanted to leave. And if I don’t make it, it’s better to die in the sea than go back to Libya.”
Harassment for PD mayor
The right-wing nationalist government in Rome rejects criticism of the new way of dealing with the rescue ships. “Italy abides by international maritime law,” said Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. “But it cannot be that only the southern Italian ports are docked.” The southern Italian cities are now completely overwhelmed.
The observation is true. However, the mayors of Ancona and Livorno, where “Life Support” arrived with 142 people on December 22, pointed out that the migrants would also have been allowed to land in a southern port and then immediately taken by buses can drive north.
The ships are mainly sent to cities run by centre-left parties – the mayors of Ancona and Livorno both belong to the social-democratic Partito Democratico. The government in Rome contradicted this with the argument that the Marche region, in which Ankona is located, is governed by a centre-right alliance.
The costs are to be increased and the time at sea reduced
But it could also be that there are other and more important reasons for the new strategy. Doctors Without Borders suspects that the higher fuel costs associated with longer travel distances will blow the budgets of many aid organizations. Gorden Isler from the German association Sey-Eye, which operates the rescue ship “Sea-Eye 4”, told ntv.de that the Italian government’s action was intended to “force the end of a mission and thus increase the time of the ships in the mission area shorten”.
Since January 1, civilian rescue ships rescuing migrants in distress at sea must immediately head to the port assigned to them by the relevant authorities. After the first rescue operation, they are also not allowed to carry out any further rescue operations, even if they encounter other people in distress along the route. Interior Minister Piantedosi claims that the new decree is in line with international maritime law.
But there are doubts about this, at least with regard to some points. For example, the ban on carrying out any further rescue operations after the first one. According to international maritime law, the top priority is for people in distress to get help, emphasizes Jana Ciernioch. Every captain is obliged to do so. “If we encounter emergencies at sea that are in our immediate vicinity, then of course we rescue them. If we didn’t do it, we would be violating international and European law.”
In addition, the Italian government has already had to back down. The first version of the decree stated that the migrants still had to apply for asylum on board the rescue ships. “But that was then changed,” explains Ciernioch, “because, as the UNHCR relief organization warned Italy, there is no legal basis for such a regulation. The asylum status check and the application for it can only be made on land. The migrant can only state on board that he intends to make such a request.”
No help from the friends from Sweden
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, head of the right-wing Fratelli d’Italia, is now hoping for the special EU summit on February 9th and 10th, which will primarily be about migration – or about how Europe can close its external borders even more.
However, the Swedish EU Council Presidency has already put a damper on Italian hopes. In an interview with the Financial Times, Sweden’s EU ambassador Lars Danielsson said: “Of course we will continue to work on it, but there will be no migration agreement during the Swedish presidency. It won’t be until spring 2024.”
This is a severe blow for the coalition in Rome. When the extreme right-wing Sweden Democrats came second in the parliamentary elections in September, Meloni was delighted. People were even happier because the conservative minority government is dependent on the support of the Sweden Democrats. Another ally was expected. But when it comes to migrants, the friendship apparently ends.