The Italian government defended this Tuesday that the law restricting the operation of migrant lifeboats used by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has nothing to do with shipwrecks like the one that killed more than 60 people on Sunday.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi stated that the decree of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is “very necessary because, in a context of numerical growth, the percentage of landings on our coasts by marine NGOs has decreased significantly and there is no connection between the new regulations and the possible increase in deaths at sea”.
“Those who make a connection between the sinking of the Cutro [Steccato di Cutro, na região da Calábria] and the new regulation says untruths, either out of ignorance or bad faith, as it is a path that NGOs have never taken”said the minister in an interview published this Tuesday in the newspaper Corrière della Sera.
Piantedosi also assured that everything possible was done to try and save, but the sea conditions were terrible.
The ship, on which survivors say about 200 people were traveling, broke up on reaching the coastal area at a time when there was a strong swell and so far 63 bodies have been recovered and 82 survivors have been rescued, mainly from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.
“About 100 people lost their lives, although we never know the exact number,” a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told EFE.
The far-right Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, revealed in a televised interview Monday night that she had sent a letter to the European Commission “so that what was discussed at the last European Council can be specified immediately” and insisted it was “a lie” that the new decree on NGOs had something to do with those who died in the sinking.
The decree introduces a series of sanctions for humanitarian organizations that do not comply, such as asking for allocation of the port of disembarkation immediately after a rescue and arriving without delay at the port indicated by the authorities, without deviating from the trajectory.
This rule, together with the allocation of ports far from the rescue zone, means that, as happened over the weekend, there are no humanitarian ships in the Central Mediterranean, although NGOs are usually not on the so-called “Turkish route”.
“I think the message should be clear: those fleeing a war should not trust unscrupulous traffickers, it should be the responsible and supportive policies of the states that provide a way out of their drama”added Piantedosi in Corriere della Sera.
After the tragedy, the minister had assured that “desperation cannot justify travel conditions that endanger the lives of children”, statements that sparked controversy and led the Progressive Democratic Party (PD) to ask the minister for an explanation.
“Unworthy words spoken with unbearable pomposity,” said action leader Carlo Calenda.
The PD’s new secretary-general, Elly Schlein, assured that the tragedy “must weigh heavily on the consciences of those who just a few days ago passed a decree preventing rescues at sea when legal access routes to Europe would be necessary”. .
Source: DN
