The Council of Europe said Thursday
that its Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic wrote to
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on January 26
asking the Italian government to withdraw its recent decree
regulating the activities of NGO-run migrant rescue ships in the
Mediterranean.
The Italian government is trying to discourage NGO-run ships,
saying their activities encourage small boats carrying asylum
seekers to attempt the hazardous crossing from North Africa to
Italy.
Under the decree, NGO-run ships must immediately request the
authorities assign them a port of safety after making a rescue,
rather than staying at sea to help other people.
They risk big fines and the impoundment of the ships if they
fail to comply.
The government has also started to allocate ports of safety to
NGO ships that are some distance from their position after
making the rescues.
"I am concerned that the application of some of these rules
could hinder
the provision of life-saving assistance by NGOs in the Central
Mediterranean and, therefore, may be at variance with Italy's
obligations under human rights and international law,"
Mijatovic's letter read.
"The provision prevents NGOs from carrying out multiple rescues
at sea, forcing them to ignore other distress calls in the area
if they already have rescued persons on board, even when they
still have capacity to carry out another rescue.
"By complying with this provision, NGOs' shipmasters would in
fact fail to fulfil
their rescue duties under international law.
"I also note with concern that, in practice, NGO vessels have
been assigned distant places of safety, such as ports in Central
and Northern Italy.
"This prolongs the suffering of people saved at sea and unduly
delays the provision of adequate assistance to meet their basic
needs.
"It unnecessarily exposes the people onboard to the potential
dangers of adverse weather conditions.
"Prolonged stay onboard tends to lead to the rapid deterioration
of the health situation of all involved, and risks exacerbating
the condition of vulnerable individuals onboard...
"Therefore, I call on your government to consider withdrawing
the Decree, or alternatively, to accommodate all the necessary
changes in the upcoming parliamentary debate to make sure that
the text fully complies with Italy's obligations under human
rights and international law".
In its reply, the Italian government said the concerns expressed
by Mijatovic were "groundless".
It said the decree does not stop the NGO ships making more than
one rescue, nor does it oblige them to ignore calls for help if
they have rescued people on board.
"What the provision seeks to avoid, on the other hand, is the
systemic activity of picking up migrants in the waters in front
of the Libyan and Tunisian coasts in order to take them
exclusively to Italy, without any form of coordination," the
reply said.
"This conduct, common among the NGOs, is beyond what is
envisioned in the international sea-rescue conventions".
The government added that it had started to assign ports of
safety in central and northern Italy to share out the
organizational and logistical burden of handling the asylum
seekers so that it is not concentrated on Sicily, Calabria and
the island of Lampedusa.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
