The Ocean Viking, the migrant rescue ship that has rescued thousands of people in distress since 2016, will be allowed to return to sea on Friday after being detained by Italian authorities for 20 days.
advertisementOn January 1, just one day into the new year, Italian authorities arrested the Ocean Viking, a migrant rescue ship chartered by the NGO SOS Mediterrane, for violating the government’s strict rules for charitable organizations in operating the ship. was captured by. This proved that 2024 will be decisive. Very similar to last year.
Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government, which took office in late October 2022, introduced new regulations for migrant rescue vessels in January 2023, which activists have denounced, deliberately blocking their work. They say it makes immigration significantly more difficult and puts the lives of migrants at risk.
According to government legislation, NGOs must immediately notify Italian authorities after a rescue operation and proceed without delay to a port indicated by the authorities, which is often far from the ship’s location. A vessel may not undertake more than one rescue operation at a time unless authorized by the Italian authorities.
If an NGO boat is found to be in violation of these rules, the vessel may be refused entry to Italian ports or blocked for up to two months, and its captain may be penalized for one Fines range from 10,000 euros to 50,000 euros. If a vessel is found to be in violation of the law multiple times, it may be seized by Italian authorities.
The same goes for the Ocean Viking, which was detained by Italian authorities for the second time in recent months on January 1 after disembarking 244 rescued people in the Libyan search and rescue zone in the Mediterranean on December 30. Ta.
Authorities said the ship veered from its designated course to the port of Bari, a city on Italy’s Adriatic coast, to respond to another distress call about 15 nautical miles away.
The ship did not make a second rescue attempt after realizing that the ship in distress was actually 60 nautical miles away. She resumed her original route to Bari, but authorities removed Ocean Viking from the mission as it was too far away.
“We are accused of disobeying the orders of the Italian Coast Guard, but our only fault is in following the law of the sea,” said Alessandro Polo, a senior rescue worker and SOS Mediterranean Italy operations representative. Told.
Upon arrival in Bari, the Ocean Viking’s crew were given a 20-day detention order and a €3,300 fine. The detention order expires on Friday and the ship hopes to return to sea.
Mary Finn, another Ocean Viking rescue worker, said: “We know this is not effective in any way and is a tactic to try to stop us.” . “And it’s painful to feel like humanity isn’t on our side, or the authorities aren’t on our side, because when you’re doing this work, you feel like what we’re doing is the right thing. Because it is very clear.”
Sarah Kelanyi, migration policy coordinator for Meloni’s Italian Brothers party, agreed that saving lives is the priority. But she said the presence of vessels run by charities in the Mediterranean must be limited and strictly regulated.
Mr. Kelanyi argued that many organizations organizing humanitarian work in the Mediterranean have a stated political objective of changing the European Union’s migration policy.
“Essentially, they want to be political actors within the immigration dynamic,” she said in an interview. “Immigration is a national prerogative of the state, and private organizations cannot be allowed to influence immigration policy with their policies.”
Migrants arriving in Italy from North Africa usually arrive later during the winter months, as weather conditions make the journey across the Mediterranean more difficult.
But people are still heading to Italy’s coast. According to Italy’s Interior Ministry, 5,237 migrants arrived on Italian shores in December. Approximately 174 people are believed to have been lost at sea.
Of the 260,000 people who crossed the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa to reach Europe last year, more than 60% first arrived in Italy, according to United Nations and Italian statistics. According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 3,000 migrants drowned at sea while traveling that year.