At the end of their tragic odyssey, migrants stranded aboard one of the humanitarian ships authorized to dock in Sicily by the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni threw themselves into the water on Monday, risking their lives.
Mme Meloni, the leader of the post-fascist Fratelli d’Italia party, has pledged to “defend Italy’s borders” by preventing NGO ships operating in the Mediterranean from entering Italian ports to disembark the thousands of migrants they rescue every year.
On Sunday, his government finally authorized the disembarkation of minor migrants or those suffering from medical problems. Two boats were able to dock in Catania, two others not, carrying a total of a thousand people.
Caught in the face-to-face between NGOs and the new Italian executive, three migrants jumped from the Geo Barentsa dockside ship managed by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The three men were quickly recovered, according to MSF.
Shortly after, a dozen other migrants on the deck of the boat chanted “Help us”, noted an AFP journalist.
Simultaneously, more than 500 people, reported earlier in distress by the NGO Alarm Phone, were rescued by the Italian authorities and landed in Sicily, said the prefect of Syracuse. “They first undergo a medical examination, then they are identified by the police before being distributed in reception structures”, explained Giuseppa Scaduto.
According to the Italian Interior Ministry, more than 88,000 people have arrived from African shores since 1er January.
Democratic Senator Antonio Nicita, who visited the humanitarian ships anchored off the port of Catania, believes that “the situation is tense” on board.
“On the ships, nervousness reigns, the humanitarians calm the spirits. Many migrants undressed in front of us to show us infections on their private parts,” he testified, referring to cases of scabies.
the Geo Barents docked on Sunday evening and Italian authorities allowed 357 people to disembark, including children, while refusing entry to 215 others.
One of the migrants was later evacuated by ambulance after complaining of severe abdominal pain, MSF said on Monday, stressing that the others were increasingly vulnerable.
“Their situation, their level of psychological stress is very, very high,” said Riccardo Gatti, head of search and rescue at MSF.
” Emergency situation “
“The ship has its limitations in terms of medical assistance,” he said.
In the harbor is the ship under the German flag Humanity 1, operated by the charity SOS Humanity, which landed 144 people on Sunday. On board are still 35 adult male migrants.
An Italian government decree issued on Friday states that the ship was only allowed to dock long enough to identify passengers in an “emergency situation”.
The ship’s captain, Joachim Ebeling, defied the order to leave port, insisting on Monday that “anyone rescued has the right to disembark in a safe port”. “I’m not going anywhere with these people on board,” he told reporters.
Italy’s new government, the most right-wing since World War II, has pledged to take a hard line on migrants. And the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, considered that the migrants rescued at sea are the responsibility of the State under whose flag the boats sail – in this case Norwegian and German.
Appeals were filed in the courts of Rome and Catania on Monday, SOS Humanity said.
Amnesty International, for its part, considers that Italy “is in breach of its international obligations”.
In a statement, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) “continue to urge European governments to quickly offer a place of safety and authorize the immediate disembarkation of nearly 600 people staying on NGO ships”.