Diversion in Sicily: Migrants go ashore from rescue ships

According to ANSA news agency, Prime Minister Meloni spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron about the matter. On Tuesday evening, she expressed her happiness with the development of “Ocean Viking”. Their headquarters said they welcomed Paris’ decision to allocate a port for the ship. She said migration was a European issue and should be addressed as such.

Two weeks after the far-right government took power in Rome, the first major conflict between the right-wing anti-immigration coalition and the international maritime rescuers threatened to escalate. Two NGOs in the Sicilian city of Catania were asked to leave port with their ships and some rescued people. They both refuse.

human drama 1

In the meantime, the situation in the port of Catania remains tense. The crew of the German ship “Humanity 1” has so far been prevented from bringing the last 35 of the 180 rescued people ashore in the port city of Catania. Since the ship’s crew refused to leave the port of Catania, German NGO SOS Humanity faces a fine of 50,000 euros. Many see this as harassment by the right-wing government to keep migrants out of the Mediterranean. The rescue organization is now taking legal action against the decision of the Italian authorities. This was announced by the club’s spokeswoman, Petra Kreshuk, on Tuesday. An urgent asylum application was submitted to a court in the city of Sicily through an Italian lawyer for immigrants, who was forced to stay on the ship “Humanity 1” two days after entering the port of Catania.

In addition, a complaint was filed with the Administrative Court in Rome against a decree issued by the Ministry of the Interior of the new right-wing Italian government. The decree states that “Humanity 1” must leave Italian waters and take with it all migrants who are not considered by the authorities to be an emergency. These are 35 migrants – all men – who mainly come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Egypt, according to the humanitarian organization SOS. It was not initially clear when the courts would decide.