From Wednesday, January 3rd, a new course on migrant management will start. Yesterday Sergio Mattarella signed the regulation approved by the Council of Ministers on December 28th and immediately entered the Official Journal with effect from midnight on Wednesday January 3rd. And exactly tomorrow the ship is supposed to arrive in Taranto GeoBarents with 85 migrants recovered with two interventions requested by the Italian authorities, as stated by the crew.
The Geo Barents ship will therefore be the first to comply with the new government regulations, but disobedience is already being announced by some of the crew of the NGO ship. In fact, yesterday the ship changed course towards Taranto to attempt a third intervention following a signal from Alarm Phone, but after patrolling the indicated area, it resumed navigating towards the assigned port. This attempt was made with the port already assigned and without a request from the Italian authorities. Therefore, according to the new guidelines, configure one violation even if it’s not finished yet.
However, there is another element that the NGO does not seem to want to respect, and that is the one that provides for the completion of the political asylum application procedures on board. The new decree stipulates that NGOs applying for a port in Italy must already fulfill their asylum applications on board. “Regarding the need to ask for formalization application for asylum We prefer to show the final text of the decree to the people on board the ship so that we can comment and evaluate what needs to be done,” the NGO said. The decree is now in the Official Gazette, so the NGO has the opportunity to study the Italian government’s advice, but for the moment it doesn’t seem to intend to comply. In fact, it says from the ship: “As we have always done, we give the survivors all UNHCR materials to apply for asylum.” However, the decree stipulates that the applications must be forwarded to the state on the ship flying flag, it is not enough that migrants are provided with the form. Geo Barents flies the Norwegian flag, so asylum applications must be made there before landing in Italy.
The Geo Barents ship is the first to risk one sanction in violation of the new commitments, which the NGOs seem unwilling to respect. In recent days, some crews have complained about the Italian government’s new policy, which would increase the cost of intervention by NGOs. “The new legislative decree of the Italian government is binding catch whose clear intention is to stop the rescue work of the civil fleet,” writes the NGO Maydayterraneo. In its complaint, the Spanish NGO therefore continues: “The decree establishes the condition to immediately set course for disembarkation from the port as soon as first aid has been rendered, which will also affect large vessels used for multiple rescue operations over several days will. If Italy has always supplied ports Sicilyhas recently started on the peninsula, which means days of navigation, more suffering and effectively preventing other rescues.
So by the NGO that is arming the ship Aita MariShe continues to whine: “Failing to request the port for first aid, the captains could be fined up to 10,000 euros, with the possibility of the vessel being impounded for 20 days. Up to 50,000 euros if the vessel is seized in the event of a violation of the code of conduct and an attempt to enter Italy without authorisation”.