The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

"Humanity 1" in the port of Catania: German sea rescuers bring boat migrants ashore

2022-11-06T10:19:36.411Z


More than a thousand people are waiting on board four rescue ships to go ashore in Europe. Now the German "Humanity 1" was allowed to dock - but Italy does not let all migrants disembark.


Enlarge image

Migrants on the rescue ship "Humanity 1" early Sunday morning

Photo: Salvatore Cavalli/AP

More than 140 boat migrants left the German ship Humanity 1 in the port of Catania.

This was confirmed by a spokeswoman for SOS Humanity.

The crew received permission to enter the Sicilian port on Sunday night.

First of all, all the minors disembarked.

All male adults initially remained on the ship and were individually medically examined by the authorities.

A group of just over 30 people were not allowed to leave the ship.

According to SOS Humanity, one man collapsed and had to be disembarked.

Three ships belonging to private aid organizations with rescued boat migrants on board are currently still waiting on the east coast of Sicily for a port to be assigned: the German "Rise Above", the "Geo Barents" and the "Ocean Viking" together have around 900 people on board.

In addition to the "Humanity 1", the "Rise Above" of the aid organization Mission Lifeline also sails under the German flag.

The other two ships, the SOS Méditerranée refugee rescue organization's Ocean Viking and Doctors Without Borders' Geo Barents, are registered in Norway.

In total, more than a thousand migrants aboard the ships are waiting to be assigned a safe haven.

The "Humanity 1" is so far the only one of the four rescue ships that received permission to enter the port.

The Italian government may have turned the other ships back into international waters despite worsening weather conditions.

The government in Rome will not "back down" on its humanitarian commitments, but those who do not qualify must "leave our territorial waters and be cared for by the state whose flag they fly," Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said.

From Rome's point of view, the flag states are responsible for the people on board.

In the case of »Humanity 1«, that would be Germany.

»Who goes ashore in Italy, goes ashore in Europe«

The right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has tightened migration policy since taking office at the end of October, but has pledged to leave the injured, women and children on land.

Others would have to stay on the ships.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani demanded in the newspaper "Il Messaggero" that Brussels take care of a solution in a coordinated manner.

It is right to take in the sick, women and children.

"We can't turn the Mediterranean into a graveyard, but we need to know who's on board, where they're from, and where they've been taken."

Italy's only black MP, Abourbakar Soumahoro, was in the port of Catania that night and described the blockade of the ports for humanitarian rescue ships as "a disgrace".

"Selective disembarkation is taking place in the port of Catania," wrote Soumahoro on Twitter.

The people are "exhausted from cold, fatigue, trauma and agony" and are viewed as objects by Meloni's government.

He added: "Whoever goes ashore in Italy goes ashore in Europe."

People are seasick, »even the children«

Private aid organizations regularly cross the Mediterranean Sea to rescue migrants in distress who are sailing from North Africa to the EU in often unseaworthy boats.

According to their own statements, the sea rescuers of "Humanity 1" rescued migrants in three missions between October 22 and 24 who were in distress in the Mediterranean Sea.

Among them are more than a hundred unaccompanied minors.

The federal government had asked Italy on Thursday for "quick help" for the rescued refugees.

A photographer on the "Ocean Viking" told AFP that sea conditions were "deteriorating and we expect more rain".

The people on board are "not doing well because they are seasick, including the children," he said.

According to him, among the more than 200 migrants are 57 minors.

After taking office, Italy's ultra-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that she would block the arrival of immigrants from Africa.

Her interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, said he could prevent the aid organizations' ships and the migrants on board from coming to Italy.

jus/AFP/AP/dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-11-06

You may like

Life/Entertain 2024-03-16T07:26:03.568Z
News/Politics 2024-03-15T15:06:10.988Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z
News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.