Mediterranean: Italy closes its ports to migrants and violates the law of the sea (V3)

(B2) Rescue conditions in the Mediterranean are getting tougher. Italy closes the door to migrants rescued at sea. The other European countries say nothing, leaving Rome to manage the situation alone

For two days, theAquarius, the ship chartered by the NGO SOS Méditerranée, wandered at sea with 629 migrants on board (including 7 pregnant women, 11 young children and 123 unaccompanied minors) collected during six operations, without Italy or Malta, however, very close, does not want to welcome them.

Relief coordinated by the MRCC

It all started on Saturday (June 9), at 7 a.m., when the NGO's ship received instructions from the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (IMRCC) to head for the Farwah oil area, around which boats in distress had been reported. But first aid had already been initiated by the Italian coast guard and a merchant ship, the MV Asso Ventiquattro, closer. And the NGO ship was sent, in the early afternoon, to two boats in distress, each carrying around 120 people.

Two critical rescues

The rescue, which began at the end of the afternoon, more than 50 nautical miles from the Libyan coast, was particularly difficult. Both inflatable boats were in poor condition. When it was already dark, one of the two canoes broke, dragging dozens of people into the water. In critical conditions, the rescuers nevertheless managed to recover 229 survivors brought back on board.

A transshipment of the Italian Coast Guard

L'Aquarius then served as a reception platform, as is often the custom at sea (1), for other refugees picked up by Italian ships. He thus recovered approximately 280 survivors on board Italian coast guard vessels: 129 people from CP 312, then 64 others from CP 319 and 88 from CP 267 (some recovered directly by the coast guard, others coming from merchant ships which had then been transferred to the coastguard vessel). Already well loaded, theAquarius finally took care of 119 new shipwrecked people transhipped from the Italian merchant ship MV Jolly Vanadio, with the help of the ITS San Giusto, the Italian Navy ship commanding the European operation EUNAVFOR Med / Sophia.

A refusal to disembark

Neither Italy nor Malta, however, authorized the NGO ship to disembark the castaways. For the new Italian government, led by G. Conte, this is a textbook case, just to show the new 'tough' policy. For the government of Valletta, this rescue took place in the Libyan zone (2)... in fact managed by the IMRCC. It is therefore up to the Italians to manage.

No time to wait!

« This is an unprecedented and worrying situation which must not be prolonged because, with 629 people on board, we are already well over our maximum capacity. The safety and care of the survivors on board cannot be ensured beyond a few hours. “, reacted Monday morning the president of SOS Mediterranean, Francis Vallat. " We cannot imagine that political concerns prevail over the humanitarian situation of these hundreds of people just saved from certain drowning, and who have just left the Libyan hell ».

A change in the rules

An alarm that is not the first. For several months now, the rules of the game have been changing in the Mediterranean. Tensions are growing between the NGOs in charge of rescuing migrants and the Italian authorities in particular. Several of the aid workers accuse the authorities of deliberately choosing to open only remote ports to disembark survivors, or of forcing them to disembark rescued passengers who still have the capacity to save other migrants in distress. According to the NGOs, all this has no other purpose than to asphyxiate and exhaust them.

Political escalation

The arrival of two parties today at the head of the government (the Northern League and the 5 Star Movement) both displaying a desire to break with the welcoming policy pursued in recent years has only speed up blocking. For them, Italy should no longer assume the solidarity that the other European states willingly leave to it. Matteo Salvini, head of the Northern League (nationalist right), had promised: he would stop the flow of illegal arrivals in Italy. Became Minister of the Interior (Read: A new Italian government, at last! Ministries of Strength), he decided to put his promises into practice by refusing to accept migrants in a port on the peninsula.

And now, NATO on the "southern front"?

Matteo Salvini does not hesitate to speak of a "southern front" seeking NATO aid. " I would like the international organizations of which we are part and to which we contribute financially and which are defense organizations, to ensure Italian and European security in the Mediterranean”, he said on Friday, arriving at the council of ministers, according to The newspaper. " The only permanent aggression we suffer from comes from the Mediterranean, I don't think itis an attack from Russia » he added, worrying about “ terrorist infiltrations with the arrival of thousands of migrants.

The Commission recalls the right

Questioned by the press, during the midday point on Monday (June 11), the European Commission wanted a " early settlement " of the situation, " so that those on board the Aquarius vessel can be safely disembarked as soon as possible ”, as the chief spokesperson of the European executive Margaritis Schinas clarified, speaking of “ humanitarian imperative ».

The responsibility of the country that coordinates the relief

On the merits, however, the European executive refuses to decide. " This is a matter of international law “recalls the spokesperson in charge of migrations, Natasha Bertaud, admitting that” in reality, the situation is anything but clear ". As she explains, " according to international law, the decision of where a boat should land is the responsibility of the country that is coordinating the search and rescue operation (Editor's note: in this case, the IMRCC in Rome). It is up to him to indicate the "safe port" where to land. But that does not mean that it is a port of his country.

Spain opens its port of Valencia

Spain announced this afternoon that it would welcome the ship carrying the 629 survivors by opening its port of Valencia: “ It is our obligation to help avert a humanitarian disaster and provide a 'safe harbor' for these people “, indicates the new Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on his account Twitter. A 'except who can' hailed by the NGO. Even if it forces the ship to travel more than 1300 km... while the food reserves are almost exhausted.

Malta makes a humanitarian gesture

Malta will therefore send fresh supplies to the 629 migrants forced to spend another night on board theAquarius. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat confirmed this Monday (June 11) in the afternoon on his twitter account. THE'Aquarius was thus resupplied in the afternoon by a ship of the Maltese navy. He received 950 bottles of water, 800 packets of noodles and snacks. But, says the NGO, " despite the supplies this afternoon, the stock of food will only allow us to distribute one meal tomorrow. And the Aquarius is still awaiting instructions from the competent maritime authorities. ».

Corsica in a welcoming position

The president of the assembly of Corsica, Jean-Guy Talamoni, in turn, announced Monday evening the Corsican will to welcome the ship. " Europe must deal with the humanitarian question in solidarity. Given the location of the ship and the urgency, my opinion is that it would be natural to open a Corsican port to help these people in distress. “, he said on Twitter. The French authorities had still not reacted officially on Tuesday morning.

An accompaniment by the Italian Navy

The epilogue was written this morning. The Aquarius continues on its way towards the port of Valence, designated a 'safe port' by the IMRCC. Two ships from the Italian Navy and Coastguard will accompany theAquarius until its trip to Spain (about 4 days). More than half of the survivors will be transhipped, the time of the journey, on these Italian ships, in order to avoid overloading. The IMRCC Rome confirmed this to theNGO. This morning, a second supply of food products and basic necessities was carried out by the Italian maritime authorities (200 kg of oranges, 2 bread rolls, 400 boxes of tea, 100 kg of sugar, but also blankets, hats and socks).

Comment: a serious breach of the law of the sea

This new case confirms a trend observed in recent weeks (Read: The OpenArms released. Order of the Judge of Ragusa). Italy, which has already (under the previous government of P. Gentiloni) withdrawn all automatic reception and limited the action of NGOs, no longer wants to be the only one to support migrants and refugees recovered at sea off the coast of Libya . In this, it is implicitly supported by the European Union, with no country wishing to take over (Read: New incident in the Mediterranean. Italian and European change of course confirmed).

« We will have to sit down and discuss how to prevent this kind of event in the future. It's a European issue said Joseph Muscat, the Maltese Prime Minister. Is right. Because it is certainly the absence of a European response that poses a problem.

The details of the operation (as given by the NGO) are nevertheless challenging. In this case, most people on theAquarius were not rescued by the NGO, but come from transhipments from Italian public ships. They therefore come under Italian law and have the perfect right to seek asylum in Italy. By refusing to welcome these people, the Italian government is not only hindering an NGO, it is violating its own rules. It encourages ignoring an old law of the sea, where faced with a shipwreck, all the ships present on the spot show solidarity.

(Emmanuelle Stroesser, with AP and NGV)

Read also:

• Rome and London are fighting over the right not to welcome the 105 migrants from the Astral…
• Off Libya, has Europe changed its position?
• Rescue at sea and the right to asylum… UNHCR's responses (2013)

(1) In combined rescue operations, where several vessels are involved, only one, generally the largest and best equipped, takes care of all the people recovered. This is to avoid mobilizing several ships to make the trip to land and allow others to continue the rescue operations.

(2) Area that still does not legally exist. Read : Open Arms Sea Relief Operation. Have all the rules been followed? Who is telling the truth?

(Updated) with the Spanish then Corsican decision to welcome the ship, and the food water supply by Malta, Monday June 11 and Tuesday June 12