Rome, (EFE).- The Italian Authorities blocked this Friday two humanitarian ships that failed to comply with their latest immigration decree: the MareGo for docking in Lampedusa, instead of another more distant port, and the Sea Eye 4 for carrying out two consecutive rescues before disembark on the mainland.
Both vessels remain in the ports of Lampedusa (south) and Ortona (center), respectively, under administrative detention, the Coast Guard said in a statement.
MareGo was sent to the port of Trapani
The ship of the German NGO MareGo decided this Friday to defy the Italian authorities and disembark 36 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean on the island of Lampedusa, in the south of the country, instead of going to the port assigned to it, 32 hours away. .
“After rescuing 36 people at sea, we were assigned the port of Trapani, a minimum of 32 hours away. We have clearly communicated to the authorities that MareGo is not equipped to take care of rescued people on the move during that period of time,” the crew explained on their social media.
The NGO made the decision to head towards Lampedusa, the southernmost island of Italy, instead of Trapani, a town located in the northeast of Sicily.
“It is not reasonable to continue sailing for so many hours in regards to the well-being of the rescued people and our crew,” he justified.
The Sea Eye 4 at the port of Ortona
For its part, the Sea Eye 4 ship, also German, arrived at the port of Ortona, in the Adriatic Sea, which was assigned to it by the authorities after carrying out a rescue of 17 people near Libya.
However, according to the Coast Guard, after that relief operation the ship violated the order to go to the port “as soon as possible” and went to rescue 32 migrants who were traveling on a boat to which an Italian patrol was already heading.
Another boat rescued by Life Support
For its part, this Friday the humanitarian ship Life Support rescued another boat from Libya with 29 people on board, including three women and a child, and is now headed at the direction of the authorities to the north of the country, to the port of Carrara.
Usual practice of Executive of Meloni
The assignment of distant ports, sometimes several days away, is a common practice of the Executive of Giorgia Meloni, who promulgated an immigration decree at the beginning of the year that also prevents humanitarian ships from completing more than one rescue in a row on their journey.
In March, the humanitarian vessel “Louise Michel”, financed by the British artist Banksy, was detained for several weeks in Lampedusa after carrying out several relief operations in a single trip.
Increase in ransoms
The good weather and the improvement of navigation conditions have caused a greater number of ships to set sail from North Africa. In April, Lampedusa recorded a record number of arrivals, with 3,000 people in 48 hours.
So far in 2023, three times as many people have arrived in the country than last year, a total of 50,405, compared to 19,692 in 2022, according to the latest official data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior updated on June 1.