Status: 11/08/2022 8:05 p.m
The situation for migrants off Sicily continues to worsen: dozens of men went on hunger strike on the “Humanity 1” in the port of Catania. They want to go ashore – Italy refuses.
Two weeks after the ultra-right government took office in Rome, the first major conflict between the anti-immigrant right-wing coalition and the international sea rescuers threatens to escalate. Two NGOs in the Sicilian city of Catania have been asked to leave the port with their ships and some of the rescued people. Both refuse.
Around 30 of the 35 migrants on the German “Humanity 1” are on hunger strike, as confirmed by Petra Krischok from the organization SOS Humanity. The men told the crew that they had not eaten in 40 hours and that the public should know. The situation on board continues to worsen. “Applicable law is being trampled on,” said captain Joachim Ebeling. “When I see that I have people on board who have the right to go ashore but are prevented from doing so by the authorities, I just get angry.” He underlined that he would not move the ship until all migrants were ashore.
Almost all of the remaining migrants on the “Humanity 1” have gone on a hunger strike.
Image: REUTERS
SOS Humanity has already taken legal action. At a court in Catania, urgent asylum applications were made for the 35 migrants. A lawyer also lodged a complaint with the Administrative Court in Rome against a decree by the Ministry of the Interior. This stipulates that the “Humanity 1” must leave Italian waters and take all migrants with them who are not in an emergency situation. Such an assessment was made during a “very superficial medical check-up”, criticized SOS Humanity spokeswoman Krischok.
“Ocean Viking” continues to France
The “Geo Barents” from Doctors Without Borders is moored just a few meters from the German ship. There even more than 200 people have to stay on board. “Help,” they wrote on cardboard signs. Three men jumped into the docks to swim ashore on Monday. Two then refused to return to the ship. They therefore spent the night in a van on the pier, a dam at the port.
A fourth ship, the “Ocean Viking”, made its way to France with 234 migrants on board because, after waiting for days, Rome had not answered the request for a port in Sicily. The organization SOS Méditerranée spoke of a “critical and dramatic failure of all European countries”. Some of the rescued have been on the ship for more than two weeks.
While the people on the “Humanity 1” and the “Geo Barents” in the port of Catania are waiting to be disembarked, the crew of the German “Rise Above” was able to bring all 89 migrants ashore. Women, men and children were able to leave the Mission Lifeline organization’s boat in the port of Reggio Calabria, the association tweeted from Dresden.
EU Commission reminds Italy of the “clear legal framework”
The EU Commission again asked Italy to let all those rescued ashore. A spokeswoman stressed that according to EU law, migrants must have access to the asylum procedure in Italy. There is a clear legal framework. Of course, third-country nationals present on the territory of a Member State, including its territorial waters, could apply for asylum. In this case, the Member States are obliged to grant effective access to asylum procedures.
Germany, under whose flag the “Humanity 1” sails, is therefore in exchange with Rome. It is “important that all the rescued people can go ashore from the ships and that everyone can actually be properly cared for,” said a spokeswoman for the Federal Foreign Office. “We as the federal government will continue to work for this.” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has already spoken to her Italian colleague on the matter.
Only a small part of the migrants come on NGO ships
Rome’s actions did not come as a surprise. The right-wing parties had already announced during the election campaign that they wanted to stop migrants. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Italy was behaving “humanely but also resolutely principled”. He recently described the people who have to stay on the boat as “the remaining cargo” that should leave the port. He was sharply criticized for this by the opposition and aid organizations.
In 2019, Piantedosi was head of the Interior Ministry under Matteo Salvini of the right-wing populist Lega, who even then banned boats with refugees from entering Italian ports. Only a small proportion of the migrants come to Italy on NGO ships. As of Monday, the Ministry of the Interior in Rome counted more than 88,000 migrants who reached the country in boats this year – most of them make it to Italian waters in their own boats.