Italy's govt. introduces new tougher rules for NGO sea rescues
Max Civili
Press TV, Rome
Italy's far right government is about to launch a security decree that will introduce a compulsory code of conduct for NGO-run ships rescuing asylum seekers in the Mediterranean sea.
Since day one of its mandate the Giorgia Meloni government has pledged to press ahead with an agenda aimed at stopping what it calls irregular migration.
The new measures will force NGO-run ships to deliver rescued asylum seekers to port immediately, without waiting to pick up more people at sea or transferring asylum seekers to larger vessels. Also rescued people will have to apply for asylum in the country where the NGO-run ship is flagged in.
Italy's interior minister Matteo Piantedosi has said the move is an attempt to prevent some NGO groups' organized campaign to bring asylum seekers departing from Libya and other countries to Italy, rather than to carrying out actual rescues.
According to the Italian government saving lives at sea has contributed to increased migration and while some NGO ships genuinely carry out rescues, others engage in systematic searches for people in cahoots with migrant traffickers.
Humanitarian groups have warned the government's measures will stop them from saving lives. Over 90,000 people have arrived at Italy's ports this year. Rome has been stopping many NGO-run ships from docking in the country, on one occasion sparking a diplomatic rift with France after an NGO-run vessel flying the French flag was denied entry.
Italy's policies on the migrant issue have been strongly condemned over the years. In 2017, the Italian government signed an EU-sponsored agreement with the Libyan government. The deal - which is still in
place authorizes Italy and the EU to help the Libyan Coastguard enhances its maritime surveillance capacity by providing financial support and technical assets. In practical terms -under the deal- every asylum seeker intercepted at sea ends up in a Libyan detention center where torture, sexual violence and abuse are practiced.
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