1 mn euro fines for NGO ships says League amendment

(ANSA) - Rome, July 9 - A League amendment to the government's second security and migrants decree envisages fines ranging from 150,000 euros to one million euros for NGO ships that fail to respect Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's closed-ports policy, sources said Tuesday.
    This compares to existing fines of 10-50,000 euros.
    NGO ships that defy a ban on entering Italian waters will always be sequestered and impounded, another amendment said.
    And another said that the captains of such NGO vessels will always be arrested.
    Saving lives is worth more than a potential fine of one million euros, NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans said Tuesday, saying "we won't stop" despite the League amendment.
    It said that with the money owed by the League due to a historic embezzlement of party funds case, 49 million euros, "we would have been able to do at least 49 rescues".
    NGOs Mediterranea, Open Arms, Sea watch and Sea Eye are currently defying Salvini's policy by rescuing migrants off Libya - although Mediterranea's yacht has been impounded.
    Meanwhile there has been a steady stream of 'ghost' migrant landings where migrants come directly from North Africa without any NGO assistance.
    These are happening largely under the radar of Salvini's high-profile clash with the NGOs, which has helped him surge in the polls to almost 40%.
    According to the latest figures, just 8% of the 3,000 or so migrants who landed in Italy this year were rescued by NGO ships.