On Tuesday, the Ocean Viking rescue ship, operated by European charity SOS Méditerranée under the Norwegian flag, began sailing for France after Italy’s new far-right government refused to give it a safe port for more than two weeks. French government spokesman Olivier Véran told FranceInfo on Wednesday: “The vessel is currently in Italian territorial waters. There are extremely clear European rules that have been accepted by the Italians who are in fact the first beneficiaries of a European economic solidarity mechanism.” Véran added that the Italian government’s statements were “unacceptable”, as was its refusal to allow the vessel to dock. “We still have a few hours of discussions and, in any case, we are still at that stage. Obviously no one will let this vessel be in any danger, especially to the people on board,” he added. “We are monitoring the situation minute by minute.” Over the weekend, in the first test of immigration policy, Italy’s new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, leader of a party with neo-fascist origins who once said Rome should “repatriate migrants and sink the boats that saved them,” approved the controversial anti-immigration plan, which envisages the return of mainly male adult asylum seekers rescued in the central Mediterranean whom the Italian authorities do not consider to meet the conditions for international protection. On Saturday, Italy’s new interior minister, Matteo Piandedosi, initially allowed the Humanity 1, a rescue boat run by the German NGO SOS Humanity, to enter the port of Catania in Sicily with 179 passengers on board. However, Italian authorities began disembarking only children and the sick: 144 passengers were taken to a reception center while the rest, all men over 18, stayed on board with Rome threatening to push them back into international waters. On Sunday, it was the turn of another rescue boat, the Geo Barents, run by Doctors Without Borders, carrying 568 asylum seekers. Again, after a quick inspection of the ship, 217 people remained on board, with volunteers reporting that people are sleeping on the decks as infections spread causing fever and scabies. After a two-day standoff, all remaining asylum seekers on the two charity ships were allowed to disembark due to their physical and psychological condition. On Tuesday, after unsuccessfully waiting for permission to dock in Italy since late October, Ocean Viking appealed to France, seeking permission to disembark its passengers. Sophie Beau, director general of SOS Méditerranée, said: “The situation on Ocean Viking has reached a critical stage. We are now faced with very serious consequences, including the risk of loss of human life … after more than two weeks of blockade at sea.” The Ocean Viking is now sailing to France and is expected to reach international waters off the French island of Corsica in the Mediterranean by Thursday. Gilles Simeoni, president of the executive board for Corsica, said he was “ready if necessary” to temporarily allow Ocean Viking into one of the island’s ports. He said the dispute between the French and Italian governments was unfortunate and was developing “at the expense of the health, and perhaps the lives, of hundreds of people who are in distress”. Subscribe to This is Europe The most central stories and debates about Europeans – from identity to the economy to the environment Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “Our position is dictated by the duty of humanity, by the emergency. We cannot, when there are people suffering and in absolute agony a few tens of kilometers from the coast of Corsica, look the other way,” Simeoni said. A French interior ministry source quoted by BFMTV criticized the “unacceptable behaviour” of the Italian authorities who said it was “against maritime law as well as the spirit of European solidarity”. On Wednesday, Piantedosi said his government “will not accept human rights lessons.” Meanwhile, Meloni thanked France for “sharing the responsibility of the migration emergency, which until now has been on the backs of Italy and some other states”. “The migration emergency is a European issue,” he said, “and must be treated as such.”
