The Geo Barents run by Doctors
Without Frontiers (MSF) has become the first vessel to be
penalized under the Italian government's new decree regulating
the activities of NGO-run migrant rescue ships in the
Mediterranean.
The ship has been banned from operating for 20 days and its
operators fined 10,000 euros for allegedly failing to give
Italian authorities all the information they asked from it.
The notification of the penalty was issued on Thursday after 48
asylum seekers disembarked form the ship in Ancona on February
17.
MSF is considering appealing against the punishment.
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.
The government has also started to allocate ports of safety to
NGO ships that are some distance from their position after
making the rescues.
The decree has come under fire from many quarters, including the
United Nations and the Council of Europe.
Interior Undersecretary Nicola Molteni on Thursday defended the
decree, saying it does not aim to "criminalize anyone", but
seeks to simply "regulate sea rescues.
"It lays down rules of conduct that comply with the laws of the
sea," he added.
"Anyone in difficulty at sea should be saved. This is
sacrosanct.
"You don't let anyone die at sea".
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