Status: 07.02.2023 2:07 p.m
The German aid organization Sea-Eye has sharply condemned the Italian government after the rescue of 105 refugees. Actually, the migrants needed fast care, but the helpers were referred to a distant port.
After rescuing 105 refugees in the Mediterranean, the German aid organization Sea-Eye brought the migrants ashore in the southern Italian city of Naples. At the beginning of the rescue operation, two people could only be rescued dead from the water.
Another refugee has already been evacuated from the Sea-Eye 4 to hospital due to poor health. According to Sea-Eye, the person died a short time later.
Authorities refuse quick help
The other rescued people were not allowed to bring the helpers from the Mediterranean to the Sicilian coast. Instead, the Sea-Eye 4 was asked to head for the port of Pesaro on the Adriatic coast, more than 1000 kilometers away.
After protests from the captain, Naples was finally assigned as the destination, which is still around 480 kilometers from the rescue site. According to Sea Eye, a Sicilian port could have been reached much more quickly and would have guaranteed the urgent care of the rescued.
Condition of the rescued “extremely bad”
The people were rescued in two missions on Friday night. Emergency doctor Angelika Leist from the German Doctors association said that the first rescuers in particular came on board “in extremely poor health”. They had gone six days without food or drinking water.
Although many survivors could have been cared for in the on-board hospital, the capacities are far from sufficient for all people. The port of Pesaro assigned by the Italian authorities would be around five days away.
Italy hinders sea rescue
According to a new Italian decree, civilian ships must immediately head for the port assigned to them after a sea rescue, even if it is not the nearest. In addition, no further emergencies may be responded to on the way.
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, criticized Italy for this arrangement; International law experts consider them unlawful. Sea-Eye chairman Gordon Isler called it “cynical to speak of a concession in the assignment of the port of Naples”. The Italian government is making the work of sea rescue organizations more difficult and is thus prolonging the suffering of people seeking protection.
Italy is trying to curb the migration of refugees with stricter regulations for civilian sea rescuers. To this end, they also work together with the authorities in the countries of departure. The Italian Interior Ministry has recorded nearly 5,000 boat migrants so far this year. By the beginning of February, the number was around 3,000 in the previous year.