ROME —
Italy readied Sunday to allow vulnerable migrants
off a second charity rescue vessel in Sicily, but sources close to firebrand
minister Matteo Salvini warned those not eligible to remain would be forced
back into international waters.
اضافة اعلان
Minors and the sick were let off the German-flagged
Humanity 1 in the early hours at the port of Catania, but 35 adult male
migrants were refused permission to set foot on Italian soil, charity SOS
Humanity said.
Fellow humanitarian vessel Geo Barents, run by
Doctors Without Borders’ and sailing under a Norwegian flag, said it too has
been summoned so authorities could “evaluate vulnerable cases” among the 572
rescued people on board.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi earlier said
those who do not “qualify” would have to “leave territorial waters”, after
refusing requests by four charity vessels for a safe port.
The Geo Barents, Ocean Viking, and Rise Above are
still carrying 900 migrants between them.
Italy’s new rightwing government, which was sworn in
last month, has vowed to crack down on boat migrants attempting the perilous
crossing from North Africa to Europe.
Over 87,000 people have landed in Italy so far this year,
according to the interior ministry — though only 14 percent of those were
rescued at sea and brought to safety by charity vessels.
Sources close to Transport Minister Matteo Salvini,
who controls the ports, said Sunday the Geo Barents was only being allowed in
temporarily.
“Those who remain on the vessel will be provided
with the assistance necessary to leave territorial waters,” the sources said.
‘Extremely depressed’
The 35 migrants refused
permission to leave the Humanity 1 were “extremely depressed”, SOS Humanity’s
press officer Petra Krischok told AFP.
It was not clear whether the ship would be ordered
to leave.
“For now, we stay here and wait,” she said.
The leader of the main opposition party, Democratic
Party chief
Enrico Letta, accused the government on Twitter of breaking
international law.
Piantedosi should explain his actions to parliament,
the party said.
MP Aboubakar Soumahoro, present as those chosen from
the Humanity 1 were disembarked, slammed the “selection of shipwrecked
migrants”.
He said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government
was treating “the worn-out bodies of shipwrecked people, already exhausted by
cold, fatigue, trauma and torture ... as objects”.
“If the remaining castaways are rejected, ... we
will challenge this decision in all appropriate institutions,” he said on
Twitter.
‘No responsibility’
Piantedosi said Saturday
those migrants not allowed to disembark would have to be “taken care of by the
flag state” — a reference to the national flags under which the vessels sail.
The Humanity 1 and Mission Lifeline charity’s Rise
Above sail under the German flag.
The Geo Barents and SOS Mediterranee’s Ocean Viking
are registered in Norway.
The Norwegian foreign ministry said Thursday it bore
“no responsibility” for those rescued by private Norwegian-flagged ships in the
Mediterranean.
Germany insisted in a diplomatic “note” to Italy that the
charities were “making an important contribution to saving human lives” and
asked Rome “to help them as soon as possible”.
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