Humanitarian rescue organization
Mediterranea on Monday appealed to Premier Giorgia Meloni and
President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella to "stop the war on
NGOs" after a row broke out Sunday over search and rescue
operations carried out by ships operated by non-governmental
organizations in the central Mediterranean.
"(Let there be) no more war on NGOs, on civilian rescue ships.
Let's cooperate to save as many lives at sea as possible," said
Mediterranea in a letter.
"Let us produce a synergic action, in the face of the imperative
to save (lives), that might induce the European Union to come
out of its hiding on this issue, and put in place a coordinated
rescue mission in view of a summer that promises to be terrible
from the point of view of danger at sea," continued the
organization.
The civilian rescue ship Louise Michel, funded by British street
artist Banksy, is currently detained in port on Lampedusa after
the Italian coast guard claimed it had acted in breach of new
laws regulating sea rescue by NGOs and "complicating" the
coordination of rescue efforts already underway.
"It seems absurd, because there are hundreds of people out there
in danger while we are stuck here," Louise Michel head of
mission Morana Milijanovic told Repubblica in an interview
published Monday.
"And the consequences are clear: more deaths at sea."
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