The unfortunate showdown between Italy and the civilian sea rescuers in the central Mediterranean is entering a new round – with an open outcome. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government in Rome has passed a “code of conduct” by legislative decree which, under threat of penalties, prescribes in detail how NGOs should proceed between Libya and Italy. In essence, it is about hindering the work of the helpers. It remains to be seen whether the government is entitled to do this or whether it is violating international conventions, perhaps even the Italian constitution.
The decree mainly revolves around three points. First, each ship should only be allowed to carry out one rescue operation per expedition. If it crosses other shipwrecked people on its journey, the crew would have to look the other way. Once the helpers have brought people in distress on board, they must report their number and origin immediately, both to the authorities in Italy and in the country whose flag they are flying. Italy then assigns them to a safe haven, which the rescuers should head for immediately. He can sometimes be far away: Die OceanViking from SOS Mediterranée, for example, is currently on its way to Ravenna on the Adriatic with 113 migrants after they had first been sent to La Spezia on the Tyrrhenian Sea – the change of route alone cost the ship four additional days of travel, around the boot. The NGOs are now wondering whether this, too, is a new tactic to keep them away from the rescue zone off the Libyan coast for as long as possible.
fines and determinations
Secondly, the rescued should be encouraged to apply for asylum as soon as they are on board. The idea behind it: This is how the Dublin Agreement is to be circumvented. It provides that refugees apply for a right to stay in the country in which they first set foot on European soil. Italy finds this unfair and wants to hold the countries under whose flag the ships of the international NGOs are sailing accountable.
Third, there are now fines again for violations of the code – up to 50,000 euros. What is new is that these are administrative fines that are imposed by the prefects, the Minister of the Interior’s representatives in the regions. When Matteo Salvini was interior minister, the norm ran under criminal law. The difference is significant: so far, NGOs have simply gone to court and always won, because international maritime law takes precedence over national law. Administrative penalties, on the other hand, must be paid immediately. In the event of a repeat incident, the Prefect can also detain the ships for several weeks or months and is quite free in doing so.
Experts criticize that the decree is much too vague and leads to arbitrariness. The NGOs can challenge penalties in the regional administrative courts, but they are generally slow.
Italy’s bishops are also outraged
All harassment? Italy’s right-wing sees the aid organizations as accomplices of the trafficking gangs, calling them “taxis in the sea.” Evidence for this allegation is lacking. The number of refugees rescued by NGOs and brought to Italy is much smaller than right-wing propaganda would have you believe: Of the approximately 103,000 migrants who reached Italian coasts in 2022, 12,000 were transported on board private rescue ships. The proportion of those who are brought into the country by Italy’s coast guard and navy is larger.
The NGOs consider the new decree to be a declaration of war, another attempt to criminalize private sea rescue. And they vow to ignore the code and carry on as before. La Stampa headlines: “NGO, the revolt breaks out”. The Italian organization Emergency recalls that in 2022 alone, almost 1,400 people drowned trying to flee to Europe across the Mediterranean. “The new decree is a call to drown,” says the German organization Sea-Watch.
The Catholic Church is also critical. The Italian bishops’ conference finds that the decree simply hides the fact that there are people who risk their lives at sea and deserve a safe haven. The bishops hope that the initiative will prove to be a legal shortcoming: “This decree is based on nothing, it will soon fall apart.”