Rome: Italian authorities have impounded a rescue vessel and slapped a 300,000 euro ($328,000) fine on the charity operating it, hours after authorizing the disembarkation of the 31 migrants on board.
On Monday, the migrants were picked up by the Italian coast guard and taken to the island of Lampedusa. Hours later, the Mare Jonio vessel entered Italian territorial waters expecting to be allowed to dock in Lampedusa.
Mediterranea, the Italian charity running the ship, said on Tuesday it had permission to enter from “competent maritime authorities,” but was nevertheless notified with the fine and the impounding order, for breach of migration laws.
A recently approved decree has given Interior Minister Matteo Salvini the power to ban migrant aid ships from Italian territorial waters, and slap fines of up to $1.1 million on trespassers. However, there is an expectation that Italy’s immigration laws may be softened due to a looming change of government: the centre-left Democrats are expected to replace Salvini’s League as the junior coalition partner of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S).
Salvini signed a ban against the Mare Jonio entering Italian waters last week, but Mediterranea expected this to have been overruled by Monday’s order from the Guardia di Finanza border police to disembark rescued migrants for “medical reasons’’.
In a tweet, the Italian charity called the impounding of the Mare Jonio “the last vendetta of those who cannot tolerate that humanity should prevail’’.Another charity ship, the German-flagged Eleonore, took 104 migrants to the Sicilian port of Pozzallo on Monday, without formal authorization, and was also impounded by Italian authorities, as foreseen by current legislation.
Police arrested one of the migrants on charges of abetting illegal migration, the ANSA news agency said. — dpa
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