“We are again accused of having carried out several rescue operations. If we had not done so, people would have lost their lives.”
Speaking is Gorden Isler, president of Sea-Eye eV, the NGO that rescued 114 migrants in the Libyan and Maltese search and rescue zones, who landed yesterday in the port of Salerno.
The organization announced that a fine of approximately 3 euros was imposed and that the Sea-Eye 4 ship, due to an administrative detention, will not be able to leave the port of Salerno for 20 days.
“The rescuers are accused of repeatedly violating the new Italian law that came into force in February 2023”, is explained in a note.
Sea Eye recalls that people arrived at Salerno, rescued between 17 and 18 August, had already spent “up to five days at sea” and that none of the three boats carrying them had managed to reach a “safe place”.
On the last one, in particular, reached last August 18, four people on board were already unconscious and one had not responded for more than a day. The NGO, meanwhile, reiterates that it is “already the second stop for Sea-Eye 4 this year”.
And, remember, “On Tuesday morning, the Spanish rescue ship Open Arms was also stopped, while on Monday the Sea-Watch ship Aurora was placed in administrative detention. The charges are always the same: violation of the Piantedosi law of 24 February 2023”.
Then Sea-Eye takes stock of what is happening in the Mediterranean: “More than 2.100 people have died this year trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to seek refuge in Europe.”
“It is important to keep in mind that this law,” Isler says, “was written exclusively for sea rescue organizations. It is contrary to international law, which obliges a captain to rescue people in distress at sea.
Italian legislators have built a mechanism by which legally compliant and humane actions are penalized.”
For the NGO “Sea rescue organizations like Sea-Eye will thus repeatedly find themselves in the situation of having to decide whether to hold their ships and turn back after the first rescue mission, or whether to leave no one behind to die and thus accept the arrest of their ships.”
“The leaders of Sea-Eye, Sea-Watch and Open Arms have chosen this week to put the protection of life above their ships.
Italy – continues Isler – is now punishing this behavior and endangering the lives of many people who remain defenseless at the mercy of the sea”. Sea-Eye will also file a lawsuit against the new measure, it has been announced.
Meanwhile, no decision has yet been made on the lawsuit previously filed against the detention of Sea-Eye 4 in Ortona.
EDITORIAL TEAM
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