A group of five non-governmental organizations (NGOs) announced on Thursday (July 13) they had submitted a complaint with EU leadership against Italy's government over a law concerning sea rescues. It was first issued as a decree in January, and passed into law by parliament soon after.

The law requires ships that rescued migrants from a boat in the Mediterranean to immediately head to the port assigned to them by Italian authorities without carrying out further rescue operations.

At least four NGO ships -- the Louise Michel, the SEA-EYE 4 and MARE*GO and the Aurora -- have been detained in Italy since the introduction of the new law after carrying out multiple rescues.

Does it violate international sea rescue laws?

The five organizations that filed the complaint include Doctors Without Borders (MSF), SOS Humanity and EMERGENCY -- three actors involved in search and rescue efforts in the Mediterranean -- as well as the Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI) and Oxfam Italia.

"[T]he law raises serious concerns regarding its compatibility with relevant EU law and the obligations of EU member states under international law," MSF's sea rescue team said on Twitter.

NGOs advocating for the rights of migrants and refugees and the UN have expressed worry about the law numerous times, saying that it puts lifes at risk. They have also argued that the law violates international law, which obliges nearby ships to rescue those in distress at sea.

Italy assigns migrant rescue ships ports further away

NGOs have also expressed worry about a new policy by Italian authorities to assign NGO rescue ships ports further north in the country, which started late last year. This means that ships have to travel much further after a rescue operation.

In combination with the new law, this policy has the effect of "limiting [the] presence [of NGO vessels] in the search and rescue zone," MSF, SOS Humanity and EMERGENCY said in a joint press release.

“Every day we spend away from the search and rescue region, whether in detention or navigating towards a distant port, is putting lives at risk,” MSF operations manager Djoen Besselink was quoted as saying in the statement.

“Assigning places of safety more than 1,000 km away from a rescue harms the physical and psychological wellbeing of survivors,” a captain of SOS Humanity’s rescue vessel Humanity 1 was also quoted as saying.

Far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni has repeatedly said that her government's harsher policies towards migrants and asylum seekers is necessary to deter people from setting off for Italy in the first place.

She has also accused NGO-run rescue ships of acting as "ferry boats" for migrants, going "back and forth with human traffickers to shuttle people from one country to the other".