The Italian transport minister Graziano Delrio has told a Rome-based newspaper that a vessel close to migrants in need of rescue cannot be excluded from the mission even if it is operated by an NGO that has not signed the Italian-drafted code of conduct for organizations carrying out search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean.
Graziano Delrio told Rome daily La Repubblica in an interview published Tuesday that an NGO vessel that is close to migrants in need of rescue cannot be excluded, even if it hasn't signed a code of conduct promoted by the interior ministry.
''I am working to crack down on odious illegal migrant trafficking, in our war against smugglers", Delrio told the newspaper. "But if there is an NGO vessel close to people who need to be rescued, I can't exclude it. And even if it has not signed the self-regulation code, I have to use it to save human lives''.
The interview first appeared overnight in the online edition of the paper and excerpts were published by ANSA. Delrio explained that he is not against the code of conduct nor in disagreement with Interior Minister Marco Minniti. ''We are talking about rescue operations at sea - regulated by international laws - not of controlling flows or integration policies. This rescue cannot be derogated, nor is it discretional'', stressed Delrio.
''I have instructed the coast guard to mainly use NGOs that show a willingness to cooperate. But I certainly cannot violate a rule of international law or our Constitution. Before everything else, this is a matter of hierarchy of sources. Or does someone think that it is possible to ban the transfer of migrants aboard a ship, leaving it outside ports to sail in the Mediterranean for 15 days?''. NGOs ''must cooperate on everything'', said Delrio.
Delrio's position causes strain in government
Delrio's statements came on the day that the NGO code nearly led to a government crisis, with Interior Minister Marco Minniti not attending the Council of ministers and Premier Paolo Gentiloni attempting to ease tension. President Sergio Mattarella meanwhile stepped in to stress the ''value of the code of conduct for NGOs''. Minniti's position is that NGOs that have not signed the code are out of 'official' rescue operations and therefore cannot bring migrants to Italian ports.The line, however, is disregarded if, as occurred last Saturday with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the coast guard asks for the intervention of vessels operated by organizations that have not signed the code and then takes rescued migrants onboard.
The ministry of transport and infrastructure, which is in charge of the coast guard, has stressed that international laws were always observed and that the code also provides for the possibility of a transfer if it is requested by the coordination center of the coast guard. Several well-informed sources who have spoken with the minister said Minniti asked and obtained a clear political stance of the executive following the statements in order to pursue a coherent policy on immigration.
Decline in arrivals registered
The policy appears to be have led to a decline in arrivals in Italy.The Libyan coast guard started to take back vessels leaving from Zawiya, Zuwara, Sabratha and Garabulli and the number of landings has dropped after a week: as of today, 96,438 migrants have arrived, down 3.3 percent on the 99,727 who landed over the same period in 2016. Meanwhile, Sos Mediterranee, one of the NGOs that has not signed the code of conduct yet, asked for a meeting Thursday to ''clarify its position'' on the code ''ahead of a possible adhesion''.