A German charity vessel was on Tuesday impounded by Italian authorities after it ran right into a dispute with the Libyan coast guard over the rescue of as many as 100 migrants in worldwide waters.
Italy usually quickly blocks the operations of charity-operated rescue vessels on the idea of a migration decree launched final yr by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s rightist authorities.
The Humanity 1, operated by the SOS Humanity group, was blocked for 20 days within the southern port of Crotone, the place it had docked on Monday bringing ashore 77 migrants it had picked up throughout the weekend.
A spokesperson for SOS Humanity mentioned the charity was “falsely accused” of failing to coordinate with Libyan authorities and of placing migrants’ lives in danger throughout a sea rescue.
SOS Humanity mentioned it intervened on Saturday to assist 90-100 migrants on three boats in misery in worldwide waters off Libya and Tunisia, and {that a} Libyan patrol boat tried to cease its efforts by drive.
The charity mentioned Libyan officers threatened its workers and migrants with a machine gun. The organisation mentioned the intervention resulted “in people jumping in the water and at least one person drowning” and the separation of relations, as some migrants had been picked up by the NGO and a few by the Libyans.
Libyan authorities didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Under worldwide humanitarian legislation, migrants can’t be forcibly returned to nations the place they danger severe ill-treatment, and widespread migrant abuse has been extensively documented in Libya.
At the identical time, Italy and different European Union governments are attempting to curb the influx of sea migrants from North Africa, and have provided cash or gear to Libya and Tunisia to cease departures from their shores.
(Reuters – Reporting by Alvise Armellini, extra reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli, modifying by Tomasz Janowski)
