Italy denied committing any violations of international law involving the case of a ship carrying around 100 rescued migrants that took them back to Libya. Some parties and the UN are looking into whether violations were committed.
The Italian government said Tuesday that it had done nothing wrong in relation to the rescue of around 100 migrants by the Italian ship Asso 28, which then reportedly took the asylum seekers back to Libya, because it was not involved in the operation.
A member of the leftwing LeU party, Nicola Fratoianni, on Monday expressed concern that the failure to take the migrants rescued from a dinghy to Italy could have amounted to a breach of international law.
Italian Coast Guards 'were not involved'
"The only thing I can say is that the Italian Coast Guard was not involved in the coordination of the rescue, so it did not give any directions," Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said on the fringes of a Senate hearing. "Therefore, international law was not violated".
This version was echoed by the Italian Coast Guard, which said the rescue "took place under the coordination of the Libyan Coast Guard, which managed the whole operation". This was also confirmed by Asso 28's owners, the Naples-based Augusta Offshore company. It said the rescue activities were coordinated by the Libyan Coast Guard and the request to go towards the dinghy in trouble, some 1.5 miles from the oil rig that the Asso 28 was working with, came from the Marine Department of Sabratah.
Italy energy giant ENI, meanwhile, denied Fratoianni's assertion that the order to take the migrants to Tripoli came from its oil rig.
UNHCR looking into the matter
The Italian section of UN refugees agency UNHCR, meanwhile, said Tuesday that it was looking at the case. "We are collecting all the necessary information about the case of the Italian ship #AssoVentotto, which reportedly took back 108 people rescued in the Mediterranean to #Libya," UNHCR Italia said via Twitter. "Libya is not a port of safety and this act could be a violation of international law".
The European Commission said that it was in contact with Rome about the case. "We cannot comment on the specific case without knowing the details of this operation and under what authority the ships operate," Commission spokesperson Natasha Bertaud said. "We are in contact with Italy to find out more".
Bertaud said that the Commission does not generally consider Libya to be a port of safety "given the widespread and serious violations of migrants rights, regularly raised by the national and international organizations for human rights".