On Friday 2 June, to celebrate the Republic Day in their own way, the Italian authorities seized two ships of the civilian rescue fleet operating in the central Mediterranean, in application of the "Piantedosi" decree of 2 January last year, which became Law No. 15/2023 by the vote of the Parliament on 24 February last year, two ships of the civilian rescue fleet operating in the central Mediterranean.
In Lampedusa, the vessel MAREGO was placed under administrative detention (with a corresponding fine). On its first mission to the south-west of the island, along the extremely dangerous route from Tunisia, it had first assisted several boats in difficulty that had been rescued by Italian patrol boats and then, on Thursday afternoon, it had to intervene to rescue 36 people in danger of their lives, thwarting an attempt by the Tunisian navy to intercept and arrest them in international waters. The Italian authorities had ordered it to disembark at the port of Trapani (180 nautical miles away and about 36 hours' sailing time). The MAREGO had drawn the authorities' attention to the fact that the people rescued on board were very tired, in a precarious psycho-physical condition and needed to be taken ashore as soon as possible. The ship then sailed to the nearest port of Lampedusa, where the survivors were safely disembarked and received during the night from Thursday to Friday. They were immediately informed of the seizure and fined thousands of euros.
To the rescued people on the move, forced to endure days of unnecessary suffering on board after the terrible experience of Libya and the risks of the sea crossing; to the captains, crews and civil organisations of MARE*GO and SEA-EYE 4, all the solidarity of Mediterranea Saving Humans.
The double seizure on Friday 2 June, following the seizures of the Médecins Sans Frontières ship GEO BARENTS and the LOUISE MICHEL, proves only one thing: the only real objective of the "Piantedosi" decree is to strike, to obstruct, to prevent the rescue operations of the ships of the civil fleet; to try, under pretext, to remove from the central Mediterranean the eyes and ears which, even in the last few days, have punctually documented and denounced the systematic violations of fundamental human rights and international law perpetrated by European states and governments at sea. Needless to say, the Italian government's illegitimate attack on civil rescue will once again be confronted with the facts.
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Sea-Eye's communiqué of 02.06.2023
On Friday evening, the Italian Coast Guard informed the press that the German rescue vessels SEA-EYE 4 and MARE*GO had been detained for 20 days. Shortly afterwards, Sea-Eye was also informed, with reference to the new Italian law of 24 February 2023, that SEA-EYE 4 will be detained for 20 days in Ortona for saving 32 lives during a rescue operation.
According to the Italian Coast Guard, the reason for the detention is that the vessel, after rescuing 17 people in the Libyan SAR zone, rescued another 32 people in the Maltese SAR zone and did not proceed to the port of Ortona as soon as possible. SEA-EYE 4 aborted its approach to Ortona on Tuesday evening and changed course following a distress call from a vessel with more than 400 people in the Maltese SAR zone. The vessel was eventually located by the civilian search aircraft SEABIRD. Sea-Watch reported on Twitter. As no state actor has confirmed the coordination of the emergency at sea and Malta has not coordinated maritime emergencies of people seeking protection in the Maltese SAR zone for many months, the Sea-Eye mission had no alternative.
While searching for the 400 people, SEA-EYE 4 received a distress call from a sailboat that had found 32 people in an unseaworthy boat. The Sea-Eye then rescued the people on board.
On Wednesday evening, SEA-EYE 4 continued to search for the 400 people, who eventually reached the Italian SAR zone under their own power. They were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard just before reaching Sicily.
"It is therefore wrong for the Italian Coast Guard to claim that a patrol boat was already on its way. The people first had to reach the Italian SAR zone under their own steam in order to get help. Punishing us now for following international law is only justified on the basis of the new Italian law, which is designed to quickly remove civilian rescue vessels from the area of operation and force them to call at distant ports in order to minimise the number of arrivals of people seeking protection," says Gorden Isler, President of Sea-Eye e.V.
The detention of the SEA-EYE 4 now prevents the ship from carrying out another rescue mission, even though this year is more deadly and dangerous for people seeking protection than the previous five. "Italy's new strategy is perfidious and obvious. Long voyages to distant designated ports will always mean that we will have to decide en route whether or not to respond to multiple distress calls. Of course we do, and this leads us to be accused of breaking Italian laws. Even though these laws are only a few months old, this gives the public the impression that what we are doing is illegal. It is yet another reprehensible attempt to criminalise rescue at sea and the very act of escaping, in order to justify ever more brutal state action,' concludes Isler.
