With the “Sea-Eye 4” and the “Open Arms”, two other ships belonging to private aid organizations have been arrested in Italian ports for the time being. The operators face high fines.
After the “Aurora”, Italy arrested two more ships belonging to private aid organizations after they took hundreds of refugees on board during rescue operations in the Mediterranean.
The ship “Sea-Eye 4” of the Regensburg-based association “Sea-Eye” and the Spanish “Open Arms” are now also affected. The “Sea-Eye 4” had taken 114 people on board during several previous missions, and 195 refugees were on the “Open Arms” after several rescue operations.
Exit ban and high fine
In order to bring the migrants ashore, the “Sea-Eye 4” headed for the port of Salerno in southern Italy. On the instructions of the Italian authorities, the ship is not allowed to leave for 20 days. In addition, the club should pay a fine of 3,333 euros. The “Open Arms” was also detained for 20 days after entering the Tuscan port of Carrara. According to their own statements, their operators should pay a fine of 10,000 euros.
Both private organizations criticized Italy’s actions. “We’re being accused again of conducting multiple rescue operations. If we hadn’t done that, people would have died,” said Sea Eye Chairman Gorden Isler. The non-governmental organization “Open Arms” condemned the arrest and warned of an obstacle to the protection of human life at sea.
Authorities should specify the port of destination
At the beginning of the week, the “Aurora” operated by “Sea-Watch” was arrested again – also for a period of 20 days. She is currently in the port of Lampedusa. According to “Sea-Watch”, the authorities are also demanding a fine of between 2,500 euros and 10,000 euros.
In all cases, Italy relies on a law on private sea rescue: It stipulates that a rescue ship may only carry out one rescue operation per trip, unless the Italian coast guard has given permission to the contrary. After that, the ship has to head for a port assigned by the authorities.
In the case of the “Aurora”, the authorities had asked the crew to enter the Sicilian port of Trapani. However, the crew refused this due to the great distance and the lack of fuel and drinking water on board. The “Aurora” was then supposed to target a port in Tunisia, but the organization refuses on principle to bring rescued people ashore in Tunisia. “We will never bring the shipwrecked to Tunisia, it is a country that has no asylum law and no corresponding reception system,” Sea Watch spokeswoman Giorgia Linardi told the Italian daily La Repubblica.
Already thousands dead or missing since the beginning of the year
However, Italy does not just refer to its own laws. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also insists on a declaration of intent signed by Tunisia, Italy and the EU in mid-July, which aims for closer cooperation with Tunisia on the issue of migration.
According to figures from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, almost 105,500 people have fled to Italy across the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year – twice as many as in the same period last year. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 2,264 people have died trying to cross the sea or are missing in the same period.