Italy stops dozens of asylum seekers on NGO ship from coming ashore
In the first test of its immigration policy, Italy’s new far-right government has prevented 35 asylum seekers from disembarking from their boat, claiming they did not qualify for asylum.
On Saturday night, Rome allowed the ship Humanity 1, run by the German search-and-rescue organisation SOS Humanity and carrying 179 people, to enter the port of Catania, in Sicily, and begin disembarking only children and sick or “vulnerable” people.
After an onboard medical inspection, about 144 passengers were moved to a reception centre on the island, while the rest were left on the ship and are likely to be pushed back into international waters.
“Right now, in the port of Catania there is a selective disembarkation under way,” tweeted Italy’s only black legislator in the lower chamber, Aboubakar Soumahoro, who met Humanity 1 at the Catania port. “Worn bodies of castaways already exhausted by cold, fatigue, trauma and torture are considered objects by Italy’s new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.”
Italy’s move comes as no surprise. Meloni, who leads Brothers of Italy, a party with neo-fascist origins, and who once said Italy should “repatriate migrants back to their countries and then sink the boats that rescued them”, has promised to introduce hardline measures to block the arrival of asylum seekers from north Africa.
Italy’s new interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, insists that countries whose flag the NGO-run ships fly must take the refugees and migrants instead.
SOS Humanity, which operates the Humanity 1, challenged Italy’s decision, arguing that all the ship’s passengers were rescued at sea, and that alone qualified them for a safe port under international law.
Wasil Schauseil, a spokesperson for the NGO, said the group’s doctor was asked by the Italian authorities to make a selection of those in a bad medical condition. “Our doctor replied [that] everyone is in a vulnerable situation, so she would not make the selection,” said Schauseil.
Two Italian physicians eventually boarded the ship and conducted examinations to determine which people had medical conditions that made them vulnerable.
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“The doctors declared 36 people not in an emergency. After receiving the news, one person collapsed and lost consciousness and had to be taken by an ambulance,” Schauseil said.
That is why 35 people are onboard. You can imagine the condition of the people. It is very devastating.”
Three other ships carrying 900 more rescued asylum seekers remained at sea, two in Italian waters and one in international waters, while their requests for a safe port have gone unanswered despite “critical” conditions onboard.