An inquiry has begun in Italy into whether the NGO vessel Sea Watch 3 was involved in illegal migrant smuggling. The ship has been stuck in the Mediterranean since June 12 when its crew rescued 53 migrants off the coast of Libya.
The Agrigento prosector's office has opened an inquiry into the Sea Watch 3 ship, which has been on the edge of Italian territorial waters for over a week, about 16 nautical miles from Lampedusa. Ten of the migrants, including two pregnant women, were allowed to disembark on Saturday on the Italian island of Lampedusa. The 43 people still on board include four children.
The prosecutor's office, with assistant prosecutor Salvatore Vella, has began an investigation into possible aiding and abetting of clandestine migration against unknown individuals, as occurs with every disembarkation of migrants in Italy. Agrigento police are interrogating three women and four men, while the others disembarked are minors. At the moment, sources at the prosecutor's office say that actions by the NGO are not being assessed since the Sea Watch 3 is still in international waters.
Court rejects Sea Watch appeal
The Lazio regional administrative court (TAR) has meanwhile rejected an appeal filed by Sea Watch against a ban on entering Italian territorial waters and the refusal to disembark the migrants rescued at sea, signed by Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Danilo Toninelli and Defense Minister Elisabetta Trenta.
However, Sea Watch lawyer Lucia Gennari said the NGO had not been told of the decision. ''We have not yet received anything and, instead, it seems rather unusual to us that others learn of a court decision before the parties involved are informed,'' she said. ''We are waiting to see the measure and then we will decide what to do.''
Salvini vows not to let anyone enter
Human Rights Commissioner for the Council of Europe, Dunja Mijatovic, has called for Sea Watch to be given a safe port and said that migrants should never be disembarked in Libya. Interior Minister Salvini replied: ''They can send UN peacekeeping forces, Commissioner Basettoni, Pippo, Pluto and the Fantastic Four. Small and large boats will not be coming. You come to Italy if you have permission to come to Italy, respecting laws and regulations and international conventions.''
Salvini added that the NGOs rescuing migrants in distress at sea ''are acting outside of the law, and Sea Watch, which has been wandering around the Mediterranean aimlessly for days, could have already arrived in the Mediterranean.''