Migrant vessel blocked in Lampedusa for checks as NGO crackdown starts

(ANSAmed) - LAMPEDUSA (AGRIGENTO), AUGUST 2 - In the first measure towards NGOs rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean after the code of conduct drafted by the interior ministry, the Iuventa vessel of German NGO Jugend Rettet was blocked off Lampedusa overnight by Italian coast guards, which escorted the boat to the port.
    The NGO did not adhere to the protocol, which was signed only by three organizations.
    Two Syrians were escorted off the boat and taken to the island's first reception center. The two migrants were previously transferred aboard the boat of the German NGO by one of the Italian military units deployed in migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean.
    Several coast guard cutters were deployed to escort the Iuventa and security was tight around the peer where the boat docked. Lampedusa port authority chief, lieutenant Paolo Monaco, boarded the boat and stayed in the control cabin for over two hours. ''It is a routine check that we carried out and it will not lead to any problem - the officer said after leaving the Iuventa -. We will now control the documents of the whole crew and this morning they will already be able to leave Lampedusa if everything is in order.
    The NGO Jugend Rettet, founded in 2015 by upper middle class youths from Germany with the objective of rescuing migrants fleeing war and famine, bought the Iuventa two years ago at the port of Endem in Germany, turning the old fishing boat into a vessel fit for search-and-rescue operations.(ANSAmed).