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An Italian charity ship saved about 50 people off Libya, prompting Rome to warn that it was ready to "stop once and for all" these private vessels to bring rescued migrants to Italy.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has repeatedly stated that Italian waters are closed to NGO rescue boats. Several of them have been stranded at sea in the past, with the aim of forcing the rest of Europe to take in more asylum seekers.
"Mare Jonio has just saved a distressed inflatable boat that was sinking with about fifty people on board", the collective Mediterranea bringing together badociations and badociations that manage the ship says on Twitter.
Volunteers aboard the Mare Jonio fired the migrants – including 12 miners – from a dinghy 40 nautical miles off the coast of Libya.
A Libyan coastguard ship had approached the dinghy during the rescue but had left the relief to Mare Jonio, who had to ask permission to bring them to Italy.
It was not known at once whether Mare Jonio had defied an order from Rome's command center ordering him to leave the help to the Libyans.
Italy, with EU support, has been training the Libyan coastguard since 2017 to intercept ships in a controversial deal that has resulted in a sharp drop in the number of pbadengers arriving in Italy.
NGO ships fired on Rome, sometimes trying to prevent migrants from being brought back to Libya, an organization which, according to human rights organizations, can not be considered as sure to be repatriated.
The Italian Ministry of the Interior said it was working on a directive to reiterate the procedures to follow "after rescues at sea.
"Saving lives remains a priority, but you must immediately comply with the orders of the national authorities of the relevant territory, in accordance with the international rules on search and badistance at sea. Any derogation from these rules may be interpreted as an action. premeditated to bring illegal immigrants to Italy and to facilitate human trafficking, "he warned, adding that Salvini was" about to sign a directive "on the issue.
If the Mare Jonio was denied permission to dock, it was the first clash of this type between the Italian government and an Italian-flagged vessel.
Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR's Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean, tweeted:
Vincent Cochetel
(@Cochetel)Good luck and thank you. We hope that the landing outside Libya will be faster than what we have witnessed before. https://t.co/iy9KTlKU06
Mare Jonio is the only private rescue vessel operating in the central Mediterranean. The others are being repaired, moored for a crew change or blocked by administrative or judicial obstacles.
This year, 348 migrants were safe in Italy, compared to 6,161 during the same period last year.
Doctors Without Borders tweeted: "Despite an extremely low SAR [search and rescue] ability in the #Mediterranean because of #Italy & #According to EU policy, citizens continue to risk their lives to seek security. "
In 2019, 234 people died in the Mediterranean, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
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