An Italian court has ruled illegal a decree passed by the right-wing government in late 2022 that only allowed the most vulnerable migrants to disembark from a rescue ship, a humanitarian NGO reported on Monday (February 13th).
This judgment comes from the restrictions imposed in November on the ship Humanity 1, flying the German flag, which had rescued 179 people in distress in the central Mediterranean Sea, the deadliest migratory route in the world.
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The ship had been allowed to dock at the Sicilian port of Catania, but only long enough to disembark its 144 most vulnerable passengers. The remaining 35 migrants were initially forced to stay on board. Similar restrictions were imposed at the time on the ship Geo Barents, managed by the NGO MSF. Finally, following strong criticism from associations and the UN, all the migrants were allowed to disembark.
However, the 35 migrants who remained on the Humanity 1 ship took legal action against the Italian state and a court in Catania declared the decree “illegal” on February 6, according to a statement published on Monday by SOS Humanity. “It is clear that among the international obligations assumed by our country, there is that of providing assistance to each shipwrecked person, without distinction on the basis of health,” says the Catania court, whose judgment has been posted online . “The said decree is therefore illegal insofar as it only allows relief to people whose health is precarious, thus contravening international obligations”, specifies the court.
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After winning last September’s elections, right-wing and far-right political parties in Italy pledged to end the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants who land on Italian shores each year. In January, a new decree-law was adopted which obliges humanitarian ships to carry out only one rescue at a time.
NGOs and the Council of Europe have slammed the move, arguing it goes against international maritime law and called on lawmakers not to pass it when it comes to parliament this week. Although NGO ships only rescue around 10% of migrants arriving in Italy, most are rescued by the coastguard or navy. However, the government accuses NGOs of serving as an attraction for migrants and encouraging the activities of smugglers.
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