At the end of their tragic odyssey, migrants stranded in the port of Catania aboard one of the humanitarian ships authorized to dock in Sicily by the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni threw themselves into the water on Monday, desperate to to be able to disembark.
The leader of the post-fascist Fratelli d'Italia party has pledged to
"defend
Italy's borders" by preventing NGO ships operating in the Mediterranean from entering Italian ports to disembark the thousands of migrants who they rescue every year.
On Sunday, his government finally authorized the disembarkation of only minors and people with medical problems.
Two boats were able to dock in Catania, two others were refused, carrying a total of a thousand people.
“Tense” situation on board
Caught in the face-to-face between NGOs and the new Italian executive, three migrants jumped Monday from
Geo Barents
, a ship managed by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) which was at the dock.
The three men were quickly recovered, according to MSF.
Shortly after, a dozen other migrants on the deck of the boat chanted
"Help us"
, noted an AFP journalist.
At the same time, more than 500 people, reported earlier in distress by the NGO Alarm Phone, were rescued by the Italian authorities and landed in Sicily, the prefect of Syracuse told AFP
.
"They first undergo a medical examination, then they are identified by the police before being distributed in reception structures",
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"We behave with humanity but remaining firm on our principles
," said Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi in the evening in Rome.
He pointed out that migrants had been received in other ports, and assured that those who were still on board were
"under constant surveillance by the authorities".
According to the Italian Interior Ministry, more than 88,000 people have arrived from African shores since January 1.
Democratic Senator Antonio Nicita, who visited the humanitarian ships anchored off the port of Catania, said that
"the situation is tense"
on board.
“On the ships, nervousness reigns, the humanitarians calm the spirits.
Many migrants undressed in front of us to show us infections on their private parts
,” he testified, referring to cases of scabies.
"Emergency situation"
The
Geo Barents
docked on Sunday evening and Italian authorities allowed 357 people to disembark, including children, while refusing entry to 215 others.
One of the migrants was later evacuated by ambulance after complaining of severe abdominal pain, MSF said on Monday, stressing that the others were increasingly vulnerable.
“Their situation, their level of psychological stress is very, very high
,” said Riccardo Gatti, head of search and rescue at MSF.
“The ship has its limitations in terms of medical assistance,”
he said.
In the harbor is the German-flagged ship
Humanity 1
, operated by the charity SOS Humanity, which landed 144 people on Sunday.
On board are still 35 adult male migrants.
An Italian government decree issued on Friday states that the ship was only allowed to dock long enough to identify passengers in
an “emergency situation”.
The ship's captain, Joachim Ebeling, defied the order to leave port, insisting on Monday that
"anyone rescued has the right to disembark in a safe port"
.
"I'm not going anywhere with these people on board"
, he told reporters.
Italy's new government, the most right-wing since World War II, has pledged to take a hard line on migrants.
And Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said migrants rescued at sea were the responsibility of the state under whose flag the boats are sailing - in this case Norwegians and Germans.
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Matteo Salvini, the former interior minister whose party, the League, is part of the ruling coalition, stressed that arrivals must be
"stopped".
"These are organized trips, increasingly dangerous, which finance weapons and drugs
," said the current deputy prime minister on Twitter.
Appeals were filed in the courts of Rome and Catania on Monday, SOS Humanity said.
Amnesty International, for its part, considers that Italy
"breaches its international obligations".
In a statement, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM)
"continue to urge European governments to quickly provide a place of safety and allow the immediate disembarkation of the nearly 600 people remaining on the NGO ships".
