Italy refuses to allow some migrants rescued in Mediterranean Sea to disembark ships, says charity group
'They're really suffering on the uncertainty of their future,' says head of operations at German charity
Off the coast of Sicily, several exhausted migrants and refugees are stranded on rescue boats, waiting for Italy's far-right government to let them in.
"Some spent many nights and days at sea not being found, not being rescued. They were dehydrated, seasick," said Till Rummenhohl, head of operations at German organization SOS Humanity.
SOS Humanity runs one of the ships waiting at the coast, Humanity 1, which carries the German flag. Italy gave permission to some of the vessel's passengers to disembark at Sicily's port, mainly children and sick people.
But at least 35 other migrants have been forced to remain on board the ship due to appearing visibly fine, according to Rummenhohl.
"We need to make clear, they didn't get interviews [with Italian authorities]," he told The Current. "They didn't get any possibility to speak to cultural media, to speaking their mother tongue; not even having access to a mental health specialist reporting on their mental health."
Other vessels currently waiting for a government response to safe harbour requests include ones run by Doctors Without Borders and SOS Méditerranée, both registered in Norway, and each carrying hundreds of migrants and refugees on board. Migrants aboard a fourth vessel docked at Reggio Calabria, Italy, were allowed to disembark on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
The Current requested an interview with Italy's interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, but he declined. Piantedosi previously told both Germany and Norway that they bear some responsibility for the migrants on board.
Newly-elected Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government has moved swiftly to impose a crackdown on boat migration, telling charity vessels that regularly ply the Mediterranean to take rescued people to other countries.
Rummenhohl, who's currently on board Humanity 1, spoke to The Current guest host Duncan McCue about the situation the migrants on board are facing and the lack of assistance from Italy and the greater European Union. Here's part of their conversation.
What is the situation of the migrants on the ship right now?
The people are depressed, frustrated. They are in fear of being pushed back into international waters by the Italian authorities. They are even in fear of being pushed back to Libya where they fled from.
You can see it in their eyes that they don't understand the situation, that they're really suffering on the uncertainty of their future.
Paint a picture for us. What are the living conditions like for them?
So we are a normal vessel. We don't have proper shelter inside the vessel for the people we rescue at sea. The people are sleeping on the deck in the outside. We [have] covers above them. They get food, they get clothes, they get blankets from us.
But they are constantly sleeping outside, which is even more weird when you have a pier next to you. So the people see the land, the concrete of Italy, one metre next to them and they are not allowed to leave this vessel.
What state were these migrants in when you rescued them?
We found them on really tiny, unseaworthy boats, not having fuel anymore, not having water or food. They didn't [have] any rescue means with them in the middle of the sea.
Some people we [found] with marks of regular beatings from the detention camps in Libya. They have gunshot wounds and they have a critical mental health status.
Your captain says he's not going to budge on this from the dock, but Italy has said it's going to fine you up to €50,000 a day. What's your response to that?
I mean, it was just a warning that there might be a fee if we don't cope with the regulations. But as we find this decree completely illegal, breaching with international maritime law, Geneva Convention and human rights, we also think that these fees are completely illegal and we're taking it to the stand.
We are right now in front of the administrative tribunal in Rome asking for suspension and the cancellation of this decree because it's completely illegal and we are fighting that.
So this has turned into a court battle then?
Yes, for sure. We are filing our different cases. First, the one they already explained, and then we also fighting for the rights of the people here onboard.
We have support of a lawyer who is supporting these [35] persons right now in the civil court of Catania, because right now they are asylum seekers, they all claim for international protection.
On its side, Italy says it wants the countries whose flag is flown by the rescue ship to take that responsibility for the migrants onboard. What do you make of that argument?
This is not the responsibility of the flag state. They are responsible in helping us to communicate with the authorities who are responsible for the rescues, and this is the coastal states which [have] the maritime rescue coordination centres.
Basically it would be Malta who is responsible, but they [have been] ignoring our cases since years, and Italy is the only one who is responding at least. So Italy is obliged to take care of these rescues.
The problem is that the European Union and the member states are ignoring that there is also a responsibility for them to then take care of the people who are landing in Italy as a joint.
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Your position is what Norway's ambassador to Italy, Johan Vibe, told Reuters on Friday ... "Norway has no responsibility under human rights conventions or the law of the sea for persons taken on board private Norwegian-flagged vessels in the Mediterranean." ... What do you see as a solution for migrants to be rescued safely and not become political pawns?
It's horrible that the political game and the political discussions are made on the back of of people seeking safety. The most vulnerable groups here are victims of these discussions.
We urge, since six years, for the European Union to find a common solution for this. For sure, Italy cannot be left alone with this situation. But it's clear that we need to have a closest point to disembark these survivors of distressed cases at sea safely.
Then, the European Union need to find a common solution to relocate these people inside the EU and to help Italy on the big load of registration and location. So this would be a solution.
You say that you've been talking about it for six years.... So do you expect that there's going to be more migrants in this coming year?
Sure. I mean, there's constantly people fleeing. Every day, our vessel is blocked here in port, [which] means that there are more people dying, more people going missing.
We cannot ignore this and we cannot ignore the [EU's] part ... on all of this because they took away the rescue means from their side. So basically it's just the civil actors, like our NGO, who [are] trying to fill this gap.
This will go on forever if we don't find a solution in their own countries, but also find a solution for rescue capacities in the central Mediterranean, and how we as the European Union want to deal with asylum seekers and people fleeing.
With files from Reuters. Produced by Samira Mohyeddin and Brianna Gosse. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
