The Italian government, led by the extreme right of Giorgia Meloni, refused to welcome the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking, which was still close to its coasts.
After 20 days at sea in search of a safe port, the 234 migrants aboard the humanitarian vessel Ocean Viking were welcomed in Giens, in the Var. It is the first time that an ambulance boat operating off the Libyan coast has disembarked survivors in France, generating a diplomatic crisis with Italy, which refuses to welcome it.
In an interview with Parisianthe foreign minister, Caterina Colonna, denounces the “lack of humanity” of the Italy of Giorgia Meloni, prime minister of the extreme right.
“The decision is shocking. These methods are not acceptable. It is a huge disappointment on the merits”, retorted the French foreign minister.
Caterina Colonna states “that there will be consequences if Italy persists in this attitude (…) Italy respects neither international law nor the law of the sea. The rule is that of the safest nearby port: the ship was near the Italian coast”. For its part, Rome rejects the criticisms of Paris and calls for a “European solution”.
European “solidarity” mechanism.
In reality, “it is a question of implementing a European decision that has already been taken”, underlines to AFP Virginie Guiraudon, a specialist in migration issues at the CNRS, recalling that a European “solidarity” mechanism was adopted in June. She expects a dozen states, including France, to voluntarily welcome 8,000 migrants arriving in so-called “front-line” countries such as Italy, but to date only 117 have been relocated, angering Rome.
In this regard, Italy – accompanied by Greece, Malta and Cyprus – denounced this Saturday the management system of migratory flows in the European Union which attributes a preponderant weight to it and asked for an intervention by the European Commission. These countries, together with Spain, the most exposed to the arrival of migrants, have been fighting for years in favor of a compulsory transfer system.
Challenging ‘frontline’ countries.
They denounce the idea that “countries of first entry may be the only possible European landing points for illegal immigrants” and point the finger at the humanitarian NGOs whose “private ships operate in total autonomy from the competent state authorities”.
They require that any state that grants its flag to a humanitarian vessel “effectively exercises jurisdiction and control” over it. Ships flying the French, Norwegian or German flag therefore regularly dock in Italy to the great displeasure of the peninsula’s authorities who ask, unsuccessfully, that the states whose flag these ships fly take care of the migrants.
