German humanitarian charity to take new Italian government to court over migrants trapped on boat

Italy’s new right-wing government is facing its first challenge, as a German charity is to take it to court after officials refused to let a boat of asylum seekers disembark.

The rescue ship, which held almost 200 asylum seekers who had been picked up while trying to cross the Mediterranean in small boats, had been waiting for 13 days to be allowed permission to land in Italy.

The ship finally arrived in the Sicilian port of Catania on Saturday evening, a day after a decree was signed by the newly formed government prohibiting the ship from staying in Italian territorial waters longer than is "necessary for rescue and relief operations for people in distress and in precarious health conditions”.

Aid workers were told 36 “healthy” migrants had to stay on board after it docked. A further 144, most of whom are believed to be children and people requiring medicine, were allowed to leave the boat. Another asylum seeker, who had originally been told to stay aboard, collapsed and had to be picked up by an ambulance.

Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has vowed to crack down on migrants using small boats in the Mediterranean.

Italian interior minister Matteo Piantedosi said those who did not qualify as vulnerable would have to leave Italian waters and should be the responsibility of the "flag state", which in this case would be Germany.

The situation comes just weeks after far-right politician Giorgia Meloni was named Italy’s first female prime minister. In a speech to MPs last month, she repeated a campaign pledge to stop boats heading to Italy from North Africa. In 2019, deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini – part of Ms Meloni’s right-wing coalition government – went on trial accused of kidnapping and preventing another rescue boat carrying 147 migrants from docking in Sicily.

The United Nations refugee arm, UNCHR, put out a call for European governments to “swiftly offer a place of safety” and allow the immediate disembarkation of nearly 600 people who remain on NGO vessels in the central Mediterranean.

"Those stranded need to be disembarked swiftly without any further delay,” UNHCR said. “We call on states in the region to protect the lives of those rescued by ending the current impasse and offering a place of safety for disembarkation.”

The charity, SoS Humanity, said the government’s actions were in violation of both Italian law and the Geneva Convention. The organisation warned the selection of which asylum seekers would be allowed ashore was taken “under arbitrary and inappropriate conditions”.

Around 85,000 people have arrived into Italy on boats this year, making it one of the main entry points into Europe.

Mirka Schäfer, political officer at SOS Humanity, said: “According to international law, a rescue is not complete until the survivors have been disembarked in a safe place. It is therefore illegal to allow only some of the survivors to go ashore.”

SOS Humanity is now appealing the decree to the regional administrative court in Rome. It said it would also initiate “urgent proceedings” before the civil court in Catania to immediately ensure the right of those seeking protection on board the ship to access a formal asylum procedure on land. If successful, all 35 survivors would have to be released immediately.