Italy and sea rescue - after the election, the blockade?

Created: 08/12/2022, 10:55 am

Migrants sit in a wooden boat south of the Italian island of Lampedusa on the Mediterranean Sea.

© Francisco Seco/AP/dpa

There hasn't been a state sea rescue service in the Mediterranean for a long time, instead volunteers are deployed.

Many are looking forward to the election in Italy with concern: What will a possible right-wing government do?

After almost two weeks of waiting, the rescued on board the "Sea-Eye 4" cheered, helpers hugged each other.

The German sea rescuers and 87 migrants are allowed to head for a port in Sicily.

While a happy ending is approaching for them, new migrants are already daring to cross from North Africa to southern Italy in the central Mediterranean.

The numbers are increasing.

At the same time as the "Sea-Eye 4" changed course in the direction of Pozzallo, three parties in the Italian center-right alliance published their programs for the election campaign on Thursday evening.

The situation in the Mediterranean is an important point in this.

The will of the election favorite Giorgia Meloni from the post-fascist Fratelli d'Italia: a naval blockade off the coasts of North Africa, camps for the refugees, early sorting out of those not entitled to asylum.

The volunteers are appalled.

“Refugee camps?” asks Gorden Isler.

Such attempts have already failed on Greek islands, says the chairman of the Regensburg association Sea-Eye and recalls the sometimes chaotic conditions there in recent years.

Because of the Greek naval blockades, many migrants dare to take huge detours, for example from Turkey or Lebanon, to get directly to Italy.

"People will find a way.

These routes could then be even more dangerous and even more deadly.”

Rome: Around 45,000 people have arrived so far in 2022

Thousands want to reach Malta or southern Italy every year from North Africa on sometimes rickety boats.

According to the Ministry of the Interior in Rome, around 45,000 people have arrived on the Italian coasts so far in 2022 - in the same period of 2021 there were a good 32,000.

The United Nations counted more than 900 dead or missing in the central Mediterranean this year.

Around 40 people were rescued off the island of Lampedusa on Thursday after their wooden boat capsized.

Pope Francis repeatedly speaks of the "largest cemetery in Europe" and calls on politicians to be more humanitarian towards refugees.

Meloni and her two allies, Matteo Salvini (Lega) and Silvio Berlusconi (Forza Italia), have something very different in mind.

If they win the elections on September 25 - and according to polls this is very likely - they want to seal off Italy for migrants.

And according to Meloni, the Libyan security forces would be happy to help.

This is a nightmare scenario for people who leave their homes and dare to flee in the hope of a better life in Europe.

The member of parliament Julian Pahlke from the Greens knows that too.

He had been on board the "Sea-Eye 4" since the end of July and spoke to the rescued about their experiences.

Some of these reports made him stay up late in bed at night.

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"A guest on the ship told me about his time in Libya, the camps there, that the civil war that was flaring up in Tripoli was causing fighting in the streets and shooting everywhere," reports Pahlke of the German Press Agency.

"He told me that as a black person you have no rights in Libya." That's exactly where migrants should be detained and checked, according to Meloni's wishes.

What is the coordination at EU level?

In Germany, this attitude is contradicted by the coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP.

The obligation to sea rescue is there as well as the Federal Government's efforts for "a state-coordinated and European-supported sea rescue in the Mediterranean".

Alone: ​​So far, one has not gotten very far at EU level with such a sea rescue.

It is true that Brussels considers it a success that most EU countries agreed on a solidarity mechanism in June that is intended to relieve southern countries such as Italy.

But almost two months later, this is still not in force.

There are 21 states that signed the voluntary solidarity mechanism on June 22nd.

You can either take refugees from Italy, Spain, Malta, Greece and Cyprus or help with money and benefits in kind.

13 countries want to take part in taking in refugees, they have made commitments for a good 8,000 people.

Germany takes almost half (3500), in August the first people are to be resettled from Italy.

In return for this help, the southern states will be given new tasks in identifying those seeking protection.

According to the will of the EU states, anyone who has no prospect of asylum should be able to be turned away immediately - if Meloni has his way, then before the people reach Italian territory.

Is Russia involved?

Such a policy will "ensure that even more people die," says Green politician Pahlke.

But the new mechanism for distribution in Europe could be "just the beginning," he hopes.

The trend in European asylum policy has been towards isolation for years.

A state-sponsored and EU-coordinated sea rescue seems unthinkable - the upheavals resulting from the large refugee movement in 2015/16 were also too great.

These cracks could open up again when Meloni becomes prime minister.

A divided EU - this idea should appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" recently even reported that, according to the intelligence services, the mercenaries of the Russian Wagner Group and the allied militias of General Haftar in Libya are deliberately pushing many migrants to make the crossings.

This is to put Italy under pressure.

However, EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson disagrees with this analysis.

"No, we have no real indication that he (Putin) will use a hybrid threat against the EU," said the Swede recently when asked by dpa.

At the same time, she doesn't trust Putin for a second.

He not only wants to destroy Ukraine, but also to destabilize the EU.

"So we have to remain extremely vigilant." dpa