Children and people with health problems were able to disembark when a ship of the German organization SOS Humanity docked in Sicily.
In the first check of its immigration policy, Italy’s new far-right government prevented 35 asylum seekers from disembarking from its boats, saying they were eligible for asylum.
On Saturday night, Rome allowed the Humanity 1 shipment, run by German search and rescue organization SOS Humanity and with 179 people in clothing, to enter the port of Catania, Sicily, and begin disembarking only with health problems or “vulnerable” children.
Following a medical inspection on board, some 144 passengers were transferred to a reception centre on the island, while the rest remained on the ship and are at risk of being returned to foreign waters.
Most left Libya in small boats, facing torture and abuse, and all seek a better life in Europe.
“Right now, in the port of Catania, selective disembarkation is underway,” tweeted Italy’s only black lawmaker in the lower house, Aboubakar Soumahoro, who met with Humanity 1 in the port of Catania. cold, fatigue, trauma and torture are elements of Italy’s new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. “
Italy’s resolve is not surprising. Meloni, leader of Italy’s neo-fascist Brothers, who once said Italy “repatriates migrants to their country and then sinks the boats that rescued them,” vowed to introduce radical measures to block the arrival of asylum seekers from North Africa.
Italy’s new interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, insists that countries whose NGO-run boats fly flags will have to accept refugees and migrants instead.
SOS Humanity, which operates the Humanity 1, challenged Italy’s decision, arguing that all passengers on the ship had been rescued at sea and that alone qualified them as a port under foreign law.
Wasil Schauseil, a spokesman for the NGO, said the Italian government had assigned the group’s doctor to other people with poor medical conditions. Said.
Two Italian doctors eventually boarded the ship and conducted tests to which other people had medical conditions that made them vulnerable.
“Doctors have stated that another 36 people are not in emergency. After receiving the news, one user collapsed and lost consciousness and had to be transported by ambulance,” Schauseil said.
“That’s why another 35 people are on board. You can believe other people’s condition. It’s very devastating. “
Three other boats carrying another 900 rescued asylum seekers remained at sea, two in Italian waters and one in foreign waters, while their port applications went unanswered despite “critical” situations on board.
NGOs reported that other people slept on floors and decks, the spread of infections causing fever and scabies, and the depletion of food and medical supplies. Some have been on the boats for more than two weeks.
The Norwegian-flagged Geo Barents, dressed with 572 other people, and the German Rise Above, dressed in 93 other people, entered Italian waters east of Sicily over the weekend from rough seas, while the Ocean Viking, operated through European studios The rescue and rescue organization SOS Méditerranée, with another 234 people on board, it remained in foreign waters south of the Strait of Messina.
On Sunday, Italy ordered Humanity 1 to leave the port of Catania. However, its captain refused to comply “until all survivors rescued from misery at sea have been disembarked,” SOS Humanity said. The ship remained moored in the harbor.
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“Everyone has the right to disembark, and we expect everyone to disembark,” Schauseil said. “We don’t think that’s valid under foreign law. “
According to NGOs, Italy’s ruling is contrary to foreign law on rescue at sea, according to which any person in distress at sea must be rescued and such rescue can only be considered concluded with disembarkation at the nearest port.
On the other hand, the Italian government seeks to apply a unique interpretation of the European Dublin Regulation, which states that asylum seekers must remain in the first European country they enter.
According to Piantedosi, when asylum seekers set foot on the German-flagged rescue ship Humanity 1, they set foot in Germany and therefore Berlin will have to take care of them.
The new Italian government’s first control over migration policy recalls clashes orchestrated by former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, now Meloni’s infrastructure minister in terms of ports, his brief stint in 2018-2019 as interior minister.
Salvini recently faces charges of kidnapping asylum seekers in a case in Palermo after preventing another 147 people on board the NGO Open Arms shipment from disembarking in August 2019.
Although he may face up to 15 years in prison, Salvini said he would continue to “defend Italy’s borders. “In a Facebook video, Salvini repeated his claims that the presence of humanitarian ships encouraged smugglers.
Humanitarian ships, which are denied a port, account for only 15% of all arrivals in the country.
Thousands of asylum seekers have arrived on Italian shores over the past week, either on their own on fishing boats or after being rescued at sea by Italian authorities.
The Associated Press contributed to this report