Italy Stops 35 Migrants from Getting off Rescue Ship in Port

On Sunday near Sicily, 35 migrants were blocked from disembarking a boat by Italian officials who did not believe them to be vulnerable. This is because Italy's new far-right-led government has taken a tough stance against privately run maritime rescue ships operating in Italian seas.

Two Italian lawmakers who flew to Sicily and humanitarian organisations both denounced the selection procedure as unlawful and harsh. The action was taken in accordance with a directive introduced by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi as Italy redoubles its efforts to target the non-governmental groups it has long accused of supporting human trafficking in the central Mediterranean Sea.

“Free all the people, free them,'' Italian lawmaker Aboubakar Soumahoro said in an emotional appeal directed at Premier Giorgia Meloni from the Humanity 1 rescue ship, calling the new policy “inhuman.”

Italian officials instructed the Geo Barents, carrying 572 rescued migrants, to go Sunday to the port of Catania for the same vetting after finishing the process of identifying vulnerable migrants aboard the German-operated Humanity 1 overnight.

There was no immediate change in the status of two additional boats operated by non-governmental organisations that were still at sea. The NGOs noted that people were sleeping on floors and decks, scabies and fever-producing illnesses were becoming more common, and food and medical supplies were running low. Some migrants have spent longer than two weeks on the ships.

According to SOS Humanity spokeswoman Wasil Schauseil, the Humanity 1, which was carrying 179 rescued passengers, arrived in the Sicilian port late on Sunday. After the ship's doctor declined to identify those who needed immediate medical attention, two Italian doctors started the process.

SOS Humanity believes that all of the passengers are in need of a secure port because they are all by definition vulnerable after being saved at sea.