While the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, visited this Thursday the Palamilone sports building in Crotone, where the the wake of the 67 recovered bodies After the shipwreck that occurred on Saturday in the Mediterranean near Calabria, hundreds of people, not only relatives of the victims, demanded justice outside the building.
In the large internal room of the Palamilone sports building, the 67 coffins were placed, some wooden, others white and smaller in size dedicated to the various children who died. On each drawer there were flowers and around the children’s drawers, some stuffed animals.
Matarella
Mattarella, a person who is very sensitive to the issue of migrants, wanted to pay tribute to them. He was very moved but did not avoid meeting the survivors, as he had also done before, at the San Giovanni di Dio hospital in Crotone, where 15 of the survivors are hospitalized. He greeted them and brought them some gifts, especially the children. Mattarella was applauded by all of them and promised to help them.
Outside the hospital, numerous groups also insisted on asking for “justice and truth” as well as help to take the dead to their countries. “President, help us”, “President, don’t abandon us”, “President, it could be avoided”, they shouted.
ignored warnings
It is that the shipwreck, not foreseen by the Italian authorities despite some warnings from Frontex – the European Maritime Guard -, has unleashed anger, hatred and furious criticism of the government of right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and in particular against some of his ministers who theoretically should have taken care of it. It is first of all the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosibut also from the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvinileader of the right-wing League, and famous for his long anti-immigrant career.
Meloni declared herself very sad about what happened in Calabria and insisted on a point that she has been saying for a long time: “The European Union must intervene. Migrants should enter only legally.” All this before leaving for India, where he traveled to promote economic agreements.
Interpellation
Piantedosi, who will be questioned by both chambers of Parliament on March 7 and 8 about everything that happened, said he was “very hurt” by what happened and assured that he would assume his responsibility. Several parliamentarians, among them the deputy and brand new secretary of the Democratic Party (leading center-left party), Elly SchleinThey asked for his resignation. But the danger is that Piantedosi’s resignation opens the way for Salvini to occupy the Ministry of the Interior, since he already held this ministry in previous years and then took a series of very aggressive anti-immigrant measures.
For his part, Salvini came out in defense of the Coast Guard, one of the two military forces alongside the Guardia di Finanzas that protect the Italian coasts. The behavior of both Guards has been questioned regarding the shipwreck in Calabria, since they did not intervene before the misfortune occurred.
Salvini rejected at the press conference all suspicions about the Coast Guard (which precisely depends on the ministry he directs) telling journalists that they should inform themselves before asking questions. “If you insult the sacrifice and generosity of the 10,200 men and women of the Coast Guard, I don’t agree. If they write that the Coast Guard has let the migrants die, it is shameful,” he said.
What journalists are trying to find out, among other things, is if the ministers gave any orders in this sense, before or after the accident.
There is a regulation on relief at sea, which has been in force since 2021, and which was promoted by the then Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Paola De Micheli, to counter the ambiguities introduced by his predecessor Matteo Salvini. And this regulation clearly says that salvage operations must begin immediately at the slightest sign of danger.
the path of justice
At least two of the alleged human traffickers who came on the boat were arrested by the Crotone Court of Justice. They are a 50-year-old Turk and a 25-year-old Pakistani. There are two other people who are suspected of human trafficking in relation to the shipwreck but justice has not yet made a decision.
Concerning the little action of the Italian security forces, a controversy has been triggered in the Italian media. But for now there is no precise information. A more detailed description of the facts will surely be available when Minister Piantedosi reports to Parliament on the case.
However, it is known that during the night of last Saturday, when the shipwreck occurred, the sea was at Force 4 level and the ship of the Italian forces could have intervened up to the Force 8 sea, experts say.
The Captaincy of the Port of Crotone defends itself by saying that they operated according to their rules. But for some Italian publications there would be contradictions between the report of the Coast Guard and that of the Finance Guard. according to the newspaper Daily fact, there was a phone call between the two forces but the Coast Guard decided not to go out to assist the people on the barge.
according to the captain Victor Aloi of the Crotone Coast Guard, the Coast Guard would have had every chance to intervene but did not because there had been no request for help from the ship or the people who traveled there.
It was Frontex who warned the Italian authorities about the presence of the ship near Calabria and sent photos in which only one person was seen on the surface of the ship. He warned, however, that given the temperature that they could calculate with their devices, it is most likely that there were many people on the floor below the deck.
For Minister Piantedosi, Frontex had not indicated a dangerous situation on board and instead spoke of a good buoyancy of the ship. In its statement on Tuesday, the Coast Guard noted that no call for help had ever come through. But in other cases, as clarified Daily factthe Coast Guard had indicated that “Every boat full of people is a case of rescue and a possible dangerous situation.”