Rome, Jun. 16, (dpa/GNA) – The Italian authorities have detained another German sea rescue vessel after crews from an aid organization again transported several migrants to Italy.
The Aurora of the Berlin organization Sea-Watch was detained on the island of Lampedusa on Wednesday evening, the aid group said on Thursday.
The reason given was that the ship’s crew had disregarded a government decree.
The background to the measure is an order by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government which calls for private sea rescuers to immediately go to the port assigned to them after an operation.
In the case of the Aurora, that should have been the port of Trapani in Sicily. But the crew decided to head for nearby Lampedusa, as they said the 39 rescued people aboard required medical attention.
The group included unaccompanied minors and a pregnant woman. They were rescued from a boat in the Mediterranean on Monday that was considered not seaworthy. All the fuel, food and water on board the vessel had been used up.
Before the Aurora, Rome had recently also temporarily detained the Mare*Go in Lampedusa and Sea-Eye 4 in Ortona.
Non-governmental organizations have been criticizing the decree for weeks and accusing the Italian government of harassment, saying Rome is using it to keep foreign aid organizations from rescuing migrants.
Meloni’s government claims volunteer rescuers are flouting rules and not cooperating with authorities.
According to the Interior Ministry in Rome, more than 50,000 migrants have reached Italy on boats since the beginning of the year, against some 19,600 in the same period last year.
GNA