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The Italian government has introduced a new safety decree, which means that lifeboats of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who bring migrants to Italy without authorization risk a fine of up to € 50,000.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella signed Friday night a draft law on security and immigration drafted by Matteo Salvini, far right minister of the Interior and party leader of the Northern League, described as a "declaration of war against NGOs saving lives at sea".
The new decree strengthens the powers of the Ministry of the Interior in immigration matters and aims to put an end to NGO rescue missions in the central Mediterranean.
"We also want certain behaviors to be a little more transparent on the part of NGOs – I do not want to talk about them, but we are asking for more transparency," said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
The Italian populist government has repeatedly stated that Italian waters are closed to NGO rescue vessels. Several boats have failed at sea because of this uncompromising approach. At least 1,150 migrants died in a year while they were trying to reach Italy from Libya.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, on Wednesday urged the Italian government to "reconsider" the bill declaring "that it would penalize sea rescues" and asked Rome to "revise the decree and … to change it, putting the protection of refugees and the safeguarding of human lives at the center ".
After the signature of the chair, the bill is already in effect. However, parliament has 60 days to withdraw it, although this is unlikely.
"The new decree threatens the legal principles and the duty to save lives," said Claudia Lodesani, president of the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Italy. "It's like a fine of ambulances to transport patients to the hospital."
The risk of sinking and deaths of migrants and refugees at sea is the highest ever recorded due to lack of relief vessels from NGOs and the conflict in Libya that is speeding up departures at an alarming rate, warned. UN.
According to data from UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration, 1,940 people from North Africa have arrived in Italy since the beginning of 2019, and nearly 350 have died en route, which carries the mortality rate of more than 15% of people crossing.
"If we do not intervene soon, there will be a sea of blood," said Carlotta Sami, UNHCR spokeswoman.
With sea conditions currently favorable, thousands are preparing to leave Libya, as the country remains unstable and without a cohesive government. The situation has recently been aggravated by floods caused by heavy rains. Without lifeboats, the number of shipwrecks is expected to increase significantly.
Of the 10 active NGO rescue boats in the Mediterranean, there remains more than one that is operated by the German Sea-Watch organization.
On Wednesday of this week, the Libyan authorities designated Tripoli as a safe harbor for the landing of 53 people rescued by Sea-Watch the day before. Sea-Watch declined the offer and went to Lampedusa with the saved on board.
"Libya is not a safe country," said Giorgia Linardi, spokeswoman for Sea-Watch in Italy. "Forcibly bringing back people saved in a war-torn country, imprisoning them and torturing them is a crime we will never commit."
Under the recently approved decree, Sea-Watch, which has repeatedly tried to challenge Salvini's policy of closing Italian ports to NGO boats, could be the first ship to be fined 50,000 euros.
"I just signed a document to apply the new security on their ship," Salvini wrote Saturday. "We are witnessing the umpteenth show. They say they are good, but they are taking away women and children in the middle of the sea. #Closedports for them! "
In the first version of the bill, Salvini initially proposed fines to NGOs "from 3,500 to 5,500 euros for each foreigner transported". But the proposal was eventually revised following criticism from several MPs.
The new bill follows another controversial security decree approved by the Italian parliament in December 2018 and covering the rights of asylum seekers. The rules have left hundreds of people in legal limbo by removing the humanitarian protection of those who can not claim refugee status but are unable to return home. They were applied by several Italian cities shortly after its approval.
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