Italy makes a selective disembarkation of immigrants from a humanitarian ship

The Government of Italy has accepted the selective disembarkation of some of the 179 immigrants saved by the humanitarian ship Humanity 1 at sea, the most vulnerable, while others were rejected and left on board, in a new pulse with the NGOs that save lives in the Mediterranean.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
06 November 2022 Sunday 04:30
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Italy makes a selective disembarkation of immigrants from a humanitarian ship

The Government of Italy has accepted the selective disembarkation of some of the 179 immigrants saved by the humanitarian ship Humanity 1 at sea, the most vulnerable, while others were rejected and left on board, in a new pulse with the NGOs that save lives in the Mediterranean.

Specifically, Italy has allowed the disembarkation of 155 immigrants saved by this ship days ago, especially children and women, while another 24, adult men without medical problems, are still inside the ship, docked at the port.

The disembarked have been welcomed in some shops in the port of the Sicilian city of Catania (south), according to media reports.

The new Italian government, led by the far-right Giorgia Meloni, has started a fight against NGO ships, which it accuses of favoring irregular immigration, and has closed its ports, as Matteo Salvini, the current vice president, did in 2018.

The Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, had advanced that not everyone would be allowed to disembark, but that technical teams would be sent to the boats to "verify" the state of need of the shipwrecked and then decide if their disembarkation was accepted.

And this is what happened tonight, when the German-flagged Humanity 1 entered the port of Catania escorted by a Coast Guard frigate to undergo this "inspection".

The deputy, former laborer and activist Aboubakar Soumahoro traveled to the place, who stated in his networks that "selecting shipwrecked people goes against the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea."

"Human life must always be a priority. We must protect the health of ALL people by guaranteeing that they can apply for asylum. Whoever lands in Italy does so in Europe," he said.

The intention of the Italian Government, according to Minister Piantedosi, is now to force the Humanity 1 to return to international waters after this selective landing.

Precisely the Minister of the Interior and Vice President Salvini have already signed a decree prohibiting this ship from "remaining in national waters beyond the time necessary to ensure assistance operations for people suffering from emergency conditions or precarious health conditions." ".

In addition to Humanity 1, in the vicinity of the Italian island of Sicily there are three other ships with more than 800 immigrants saved days and weeks ago at sea, suffering the consequences of the cold and exhausted by their journey from the North African coast.

Two are in Italian territorial waters, since the Government gave them permission to enter to shelter from the storm: they are the Geo Barents of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) with 572 rescued and Norwegian flag, and the German Rise Above, with 93 (two were evacuated yesterday ashore for medical reasons).

While a fourth ship, the Ocean Viking, of SOS Méditerranée with another 234 immigrants on board and flying the Norwegian flag, remains outside the twelve-mile limit off the city of Catania.

Italy wants the flag countries -Germany and Norway- to take charge of the reception of these immigrants and force an agreement at European level for their redistribution on the continent.