After 18 days at sea and a ban on docking in Italy, theocean viking is now heading for the port of Marseilles. France has undertaken to allow all persons aboard the boat chartered by SOS Méditerranée to disembark. But the Italian government seems to be looking for a way out of the conflict between it and the NGOs working to help migrants in the Mediterranean.
The French government denounced Tuesday evening the “ unacceptable behavior Italian authorities who refuse to allow the ship Ocean Viking, which is off the coast of Sicily, to dock with 234 migrants on board. The attitude of the Italian authorities is ” contrary to the law of the sea and the spirit of European solidarity a French government source told AFP. ” We expect something else from a country which is today the first beneficiary of the European solidarity mechanism “, added this source.
Earlier in the evening, the new far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had thanked France which, according to her, was agreeing to host theocean viking in one of its ports. ” We want to say how much we appreciate France’s decision to take its share of responsibility in the face of the migratory emergency, which until now has rested on the shoulders of Italy and a few other Mediterranean countries, by opening its ports to the ship ‘Ocean Viking’ “, said Giorgia Meloni in a press release.
According to AGI, an Italian news agency, the matter was settled between Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron during COP27 in Egypt. In Paris, the French Ministry of the Interior clarified that the ship is ” for the moment ” in the ” italian waterss”, until Wednesday noon at least.
Earlier in the day on Tuesday, the NGO SOS Méditerranée had asked France to assign a safe port for the disembarkation of the 234 migrants, stranded on board the boat for 18 days: “ We are in a total impasse in the face of the silence of Italy “, explained the director of SOS Méditerranée, Sophie Beau.
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The Meloni government criticized for its selective reception of survivors
In Italy, all passengers embarked on the Rise Above were able to land in Calabria. In the port of Catania, Sicily, two boats, the Humanity and the Geo Barents, were initially allowed to disembark only women, unaccompanied minors and vulnerable people selected by Italian doctors. Tuesday evening, the NGO Doctors Without Borders announced the disembarkation of all the migrants who remained on board the Geo Barents.
The selective reception of the Meloni government, inflicted on people rescued at sea by NGOs, caused an outcry throughout Italy. He is condemned by many associations, by the opposition, part of the trade union world as well as by the Church, reports our correspondent in Rome, Anne Treca. The press is indignant, for example, at the ban on journalists approaching the two boats that finally arrived in Catania in Sicily. Pope Francis recalled that welcoming all migrants is an obligation.
The Minister of the Interior, a close friend of Salvini, will have to explain himself to Parliament. The conflict between him and the volunteer rescuers is now a matter of justice. An NGO has seized the court of Catania and another appeal is expected before the court of Rome.
In 2019, Carola Rackete, the captain of a German NGO boat entered the port of Lampedusa in force. Salvini had him arrested. The judge eventually cleared her. The government’s arguments are no stronger today than they were three years ago and it is hard to believe that the current government’s coup would be better received.
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(And with AFP)