The NGOs responsible for migrant search-and rescue operations have accused the Italian government of wanting them to "disappear" after it shut down ports to vessels operated by NGOs.
NGOs have accused the Italian government of wanting them to "disappear" after the offensive launched by Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini. They say Italy is not welcoming towards humanitarian vessels in the Mediterranean, something that could push them to end their activity, as already occurred over the past few months.
Giorgia Linardi, spokesperson for Sea Watch, said that "what is happening today is an attempt to cancel the presence of free and independent eyes that tell us what happens at sea."
The German NGO with its vessel Sea Watch 3 last Tuesday was unable to take 42 migrants on board rescued by US vessel Trenton because Rome had not given them authorization to take them to Italy. The ship has left the rescue area and is now in Malta.
Shutdown of ports is not the solution
"The issue of shared responsibility," Linardi said. "It cannot be solved by closing ports and putting pressure on the EU to open its ports. It is necessary to rescue anyone who is in difficulty at sea, whether they come from Africa or they are minister Salvini."
Riccardo Gatti, chief of missions for Spain's Proactiva Open Arms, said "this criminalization, the attacks against NGOs and actions to make us disappear are on the rise: we used to be 12 and now four are left" and "the judiciary has attacked us.There is something that has been orchestrated in all of this, they want NGOs to disappear" and, he concluded, this is "a scenario that scares us: it's not just an attack against us at sea but also against Italians because they are lying and are implementing repressive actions."
'We are at sea because Europe is absent'
The president of MSF Italia, Claudia Lodesani, stressed that "the vessels of non-governmental organizations took action when the Mare Nostrum mission ended, with the Mediterranean that turned into a tomb for over 1,200 people in a week. We are there because there is no Europe." And the difference between rescue operations by NGOs and coast guards is "false" because "NGO vessels always carry out rescue operations in coordination with coast guards. In fact, aboard the Aquarius there were 400 people previously rescued by Italian coast guards." (The photo shows a phase of a recent rescue mission of Libyan migrants by the Sea Watch 3. Credit: Sea Watch).