The Italian government's 2023 opened with the approval of a new decree-law that introduces a series of new and stricter rules against NGOs engaged in sea rescues of migrants. As is always the case when it comes to immigration in Italy, discussions followed, and on January 25th a ship of Doctors Without Borders, the Geo Barents, violated the new rules. The Council of Europe has also recently spoken out, calling on the Italian government to review its position and amend the decree. According to critics of the measure, the new rules would in fact be aimed at making it more difficult for NGOs to continue operating by limiting rescue operations.
What are the new rules
The government led by President Meloni has never hidden its mistrust of NGOs involved in rescuing migrants at sea, and in general the issue of immigration was very relevant during the election campaign, when they were heralded as wanting to increase control over landings to our Country. After initially adopting the strategy of selective landings, this new decree-law was passed earlier this year, introducing a series of new and contested rules against NGO ships regarding rescue operations.
In addition to reiterating some obligations already present in international law, such as being in possession of all authorizations and "the requirement of technical-nautical suitability for the safety of navigation," ships, as soon as rescue operations are completed, must immediately contact the Italian authorities to request a port of disembarkation. Once notified, the port must be reached "without delay for the completion of the rescue operation." If the rules are violated, there is a penalty for the master of up to 50,000 euros, administrative detention of the ship for two months, and seizure of the ship if the offense is repeated.
The government's strategy and criticism
This particular emphasis on the speed with which the assigned port of disembarkation must be reached is explained by the government's desire to prevent ships from carrying out multiple rescue operations before reaching land. Although there is in fact no explicit prohibition of "multiple rescues" in the text, after its inclusion was initially considered, in practice this possibility is restricted. Ships can in fact do other rescue operations "along the trajectory of the route assigned to them," as Interior Minister Piantedosi recently stated, but according to the decree they cannot remain stationary at sea to intervene in other emergency situations.
NGO operations are then further complicated by the fact that in recent months authorities have instructed ships to disembark in very far ports, mainly in the north of the country, which makes everything much more expensive and moves the boats away from areas where more rescues take place for a longer period of time. Minister Piantedosi had explained that this choice stemmed from a desire to avoid congestion in southern ports, which are where landings generally occur. However, this justification lost its force when, late last month, a group of migrants who had arrived at the port of La Spezia after being rescued by the Geo Barents ship were transported to Foggia by bus.
In the view of the current executive, attempting to limit the rescue operations of NGOs would also mean limiting the flow of migrants: in fact, several members of the majority have not abandoned the "pull-factor" theory, according to which the very presence of these ships would push more people to decide to undertake the crossing. Long ago, however, this idea was disproved by the data, which showed that the main driver of departures is the weather. The current situation of migration to Italy confirms how the presence of NGOs is unable to make a significant impact. In the face of a significant increase in landings compared to the same period last year, migrants rescued by NGOs are only about 10% of the total, as reported by the Institute for International Policy Studies (ISPI), with the remainder arriving independently or through Coast Guard intervention.
The Geo Barents case and the letter from the Council of Europe
On January 25th, less than a month after the decree-law was passed, the ship Geo Barents of Doctors Without Borders did not respect the new rules. In fact, after an initial rescue, it headed for the port of La Spezia, but upon receiving requests for help, it decided to carry out two more rescue operations, rescuing a total of 237 migrants. It then did not immediately head for its assigned port and, after trying unsuccessfully to contact the Italian authorities, decided to follow international rules regarding sea rescue rather than the new Italian rules. Despite this, there has been no sanction at this time.
The Council of Europe - an international organization not linked to the European Union - has also taken a position on the Italian decree through a letter from Human Rights Commissioner Dunja Mijatovic, calling on the government to review the rule that could hinder NGO rescue operations at sea. The Viminale responded by saying that the new rules "do not prevent NGOs from carrying out multiple interventions" and that the fears expressed are "groundless."
While waiting to see what the possible developments will be, both on the front of the Geo Barents case and with respect to possible modifications of the decree-law, although this possibility does not seem to be screened by the government at the moment, it is perhaps already possible to make some balances. However, the results vary depending on the objective being considered: if this was to hinder and limit the work of NGOs, it seems to have been achieved in part; if, on the other hand, it was to decrease the number of people who decide to leave for Italy, the numbers so far show the failure of the measure.
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The sources consulted in the writing of this article are searchable:
https://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2023/01/02/23G00001/sg
https://www.essenziale.it/notizie/annalisa-camilli/2022/12/29/decreto-ong-soccorso
https://www.wired.it/article/ong-decalogo-migranti-soccorsi-governo/
https://www.ilpost.it/2023/01/25/medici-senza-frontiere-la-spezia/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ahgkPp6NqMh3Dg63YHj8LVyaeW6-qHn2QQcRrKasJyM/edit#gid=0
Image source:
https://pixabay.com/it/photos/barca-acqua-profugo-fuga-asilo-998966/
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L'Autore
Giorgio Giardino
Giorgio Giardino, classe 1998, ha di recente conseguito la laurea magistrale in Politiche europee ed internazionali presso l'Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore discutendo un tesi dal titolo "La libertà di espressione nel mondo online: stato dell'arte e prospettive". Da sempre interessato a tematiche riguardanti i diritti fondamentali e le relazioni internazionali, ricopre all'interno di MI la carica di caporedattore per la sezione Diritti Umani.
Giorgio Giardino, class 1998, recently obtained a master's degree in European and international policies at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore with a thesis entitled "Freedom of expression in the online world: state of the art and perspectives". Always interested in issues concerning fundamental rights and international relations, he holds the position of Editor-in-Chief of the Human Rights team.
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DirittiUmani Migranti ong governo Italia governomeloni consiglio d'Europa