Italian move to block migrant rescue ships condemned as 'political'

The Sea-Watch 4 was the fifth rescue ship detained by Italian authorities in as many months

TOPSHOT - Migrants wait onboard the Sea-Watch 4 civil sea rescue ship, that is waiting for permission to run into a port, on sea between Malta and Italy, on August 30, 2020. More than 350 migrantes are onboard the Sea-Watch 4, after it took more than 150 people from the German-flagged MV Louise Michel rescue vessel funded by British street artist Banksy. Sea-Watch 4, which has rescued 201 migrants before and is itself in search of a host port, decided to help the Louise Michel "in the face of the lack of reaction" from the authorities, a spokesman for the German NGO Sea-Watch, which charters the boat with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), told AFP. - Germany OUT
 / AFP / Thomas Lohnes
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Italy impounded a German humanitarian ship that was on a mission to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.
The German group, Sea-Watch, condemned the blockade of its vessel after it was stopped for an 11-hour inspection in the Sicilian port of Palermo by Italian authorities.
Philipp Hahn, head of the Sea-Watch 4 mission, called the Italian measures "flimsy'' and a "systematic" bid to slow them down.
It is the fifth rescue ship blocked by Italian authorities in as many months. Sea-Watch 4 is operated by four humanitarian groups, including Sea-Watch and Doctors Without Borders.

''The Sea-Watch 4 is only at sea because of the absence of state-led search and rescue capacity at the world's deadliest sea border,'' Doctors Without Borders said.
It accused Europe of "disregarding its legal and moral duty to save lives".

Mr Hahn said that the main reason cited for the inspection was that saving lives did not conform to the vessel’s registration. Italian officials also said there were too many life jackets on board and that the boat’s sewage system was not adequate for the number of people rescued.

The increasing obstacles to migrant rescues in the Mediterranean have seen fewer migrant arrivals in 2020 than in 2019, according to Missing Migrants data.

 

Although there have also been fewer deaths in 2020 than in 2019, according to the same organisation.

 

The dangerous sea route from Libya towards Italy and Malta is popular with migrants trying to reach Europe.

Italy, like Greece, has seen thousands of people land on its shores and islands and often takes a hardline stance as new ships carrying rescued migrants try to dock.

The Sea-Watch ship had rescued 354 people, 98 of them unaccompanied minors. It waited for days to be assigned a safe port, until survivors were transferred to a ferry for quarantine. The Sea-Watch 4 crew also underwent a two-week quarantine off Palermo.

Another German-flagged ship, Alan Kurdi, operated by Sea-Eye, rescued 133 people off the Libyan coast in three operations on Saturday.