Ms Meloni, 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 migrants they rescue each 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 not, carrying a total of a thousand people.
Trapped in the face-to-face between NGOs and the new Italian executive, three migrants jumped Monday from Geo Barents, a docked ship managed by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
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”, explained Giuseppa Scaduto.
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, believes 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 the private parts”, he testified, referring to cases of scabies.
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.
– “Emergency situation” –
“The ship has its limitations in terms of medical assistance,” he said.
In the port is the German-flagged boat Humanity 1, operated by the charity SOS Humanity, which disembarked 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”.
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 are the responsibility of the state under whose flag the boats are sailing – in this case Norwegians and Germans.
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 UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) “continue to urge European governments to quickly offer a place of safety and authorize the immediate disembarkation of nearly 600 people staying on NGO ships”.
