Sunday, November 6 in the early morning, 144 migrants rescued by Humanity 1, a ship of the NGO SOS Humanité flying the German flag, were able to disembark in the port of Catania, in Sicily, after several days of blocking at sea. The new Italian government, dominated by the extreme right, did not authorize enter its territory only minors and people with medical problems. Thirty men were thus forced to remain on board.
Present in the port of Catania at the time of the landing, an Italian opposition deputy, Aboubakar Soumahoro, a former migrant from Côte d’Ivoire, denounced the “selection of shipwrecked migrants”, which would violate international law. And accuse the government of dealing “the castaways, already exhausted by the cold, fatigue, trauma and torture, like objects”.
On board, babies a few months old
Off the port of Catania, three other boats, carrying 900 migrants, are still waiting to be able to dock, some for two weeks. On board of Rise Aboveout of 94 people rescued, 42 would be minors, including babies only a few months old.
These people are largely suffering from the change in the political context in Italy: the new Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, has promised to crack down on migrants fleeing North Africa, by stopping the landings. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the government would not backtrack on its humanitarian obligations, but that migrants who are not “qualified” should be borne by the State to which each vessel is attached by its flag, Germany for two vessels and Norway for the other two.
A null and void possibility for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which replied that it did not assume “no liability” for people rescued by private vessels flying the Norwegian flag in the Mediterranean. Germany, for its part, pressed Italy to accept these boats, while promising to take charge of some of the survivors.
Faced with the blocking of Rome, the lack of response from the authorities of Malta (the closest territory with Italy) and the deterioration of the weather at sea, the NGO SOS Méditerranée urged France, the Spain and Greece to help find a port of disembarkation.
“What will be the action of the French government? »
On BFMTV, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin confronted Italy with its obligations, recalling that “international law is very clear” : «When a boat asks to dock with shipwrecked people on board, it is the nearest safest port that must accommodate it, in this case Italy. » France has nonetheless undertaken to welcome “part of the women and children”.
In France, the question of the reception of these boats has been largely overshadowed by the controversy aroused by the racist remarks of the deputy of the National Rally Grégoire de Fournas. Before being interrupted, the deputy Carlos Martens Bilongo tried to challenge the executive on the fate of these hundreds of women, men and children stranded at sea. “What will be the action of the French government on the subject? », he asked.