Veronica Alfonsi, head of Open Arms in Italy, lambasted the policies of the current Meloni government, emphasizing the urgent need for a comprehensive European-level rescue and reception system.

She was speaking on the sidelines of the Feb. 16 hearing held in a bunker courtroom at the Ucciardone prison in the Sicilian city of Palermo as part of a trial in which Matteo Salvini, who was at the time of the incident interior minister, has been charged with kidnapping and negligence for having stopped the disembarking of the migrants from the vessel operated by the Spanish NGO almost five years ago.

Alfonsi criticized the reliance on funding third countries like Libya, where widespread human rights abuses have been documented.

"It was a long trial. We attended many hearings in which hours were spent talking about the ability of the vessel to stay afloat," Alfonsi said. "What is important to us, instead, is that we give a voice to those rescued that we had on the boat, to their stories and their lives, because that is what is important. It often seemed to us that the discussion was on residual cargo. But it is not like this: they are human lives," she stressed, saying that she hoped to hear a response from Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.

'Target to come to Italy, never handed migrants to Libya'

Piantedosi, who at the time of the incident was the head of the interior ministry cabinet under Salvini, gave a statement during the hearing.

"It is not clear why those who pick up migrants must come to Italy. There is Malta, Tunisia. If they want to save human lives and a port is needed urgently, why don't they ask Tunisia, for example? Then, in the case of Open Arms, a Spanish ship and with Spain willing to go get them, they said no," underscored the interior minister. This behavior, he said, "shows the true intention to bring migrants to Italy. The rescue was secondary, in my opinion."

Addressing concerns about Libya's role, Piantedosi stressed efforts to combat human trafficking while distancing Italy from directly handing migrants over to traffickers. However, he acknowledged the diverging fates of those returned to Libya's recognized institutions versus those left in the hands of traffickers.