The first provision issued against a non-governmental organization after the introduction of the so-called NGO decree, which has just become law today, has been taken against the ship of Doctors Without Borders.
The communication, which arrived only in these hours after the landing of 48 migrants on board in Ancona on 17 February, was reported by the same staff of 'MSF': "the Italian authorities have just informed us that the Geo Barents, the ship of search and rescue of Doctors Without Borders, was hit by an administrative detention of twenty days and a fine of ten thousand euros.The Port Authority of Ancona contests us, in the light of the new decree, of not having provided all the information requested during the last rotation which ended with the landing in Ancona".
But the organization stands now"
evaluating the legal actions to be taken to contest the incident.
It is not acceptable - he comments - to be punished for saving lives".
Already after the introduction of the NGO decree - now converted into law and which introduces a series of sanctions for humanitarian organizations that do not comply with the new rules - the ship Geo Barents had carried out other rescues in the Mediterranean, all of which ended with the assignment of a port by the Italian authorities, as happened for other non-governmental organizations.
The next to land in these hours - in the port of Ortona (Chieti) - will be the Aita Mari ship of the Spanish NGO 'Salvamento Maritimo Humanitario', which has 40 migrants on board.
The provision against the Geo Barents now risks triggering a new controversy from the world of humanitarian organizations involved in rescues in the Mediterranean, which are already protesting against the definitive go-ahead from the Senate to the decree.
The latter provides for certain rules: among these the possession by the Organizations of all the authorizations issued by the competent authorities of the flag State and the technical-nautical suitability requirements for the safety of navigation in territorial waters.
Furthermore, they are obliged to request the assignment of the port of unloading immediately after the rescue and then immediately proceed to the communicated destination.
