NGOs fear more deaths in the Mediterranean as Italy and Malta close ports

NGO migrant vessels operating in the Mediterranean were dealt another blow yesterday when Italy decided that it too would no longer be allowing its ports to be used for refuelling and the restocking of provisions.

Salvini’s decision came two days after Malta also decided to close its ports to NGO vessels, and a few hours after 100 migrants lost their lives after their boat capsized off the Libyan coast.

Over the past three weeks, Italy and Malta have been caught in a dispute about responsibility for migrants saved in the Mediterranean.

Italy’s new government has insisted that the country will not allow any NGO vessels to disembark passengers in Italy, and has now upped the ante by preventing these same vessels from refuelling in its ports.

Malta has, on the other hand, stood its ground, and has refused to be bullied by Italy into accepting migrants it was not legally responsible for.

Tensions between the two countries continued to rise yesterday, after the Open Arms, a vessel operated by the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, rescued 59 migrants off the coast of Libya.

Salvini was quick to tweet that Malta was the closest safe port from the location the migrants had been rescued, a claim that was rejected by the Maltese government, with Home Affairs minister Michael Farrugia telling Salvini to stop spreading false information.

“The rescue took place within the Libyan search and rescue region between Libya and Lampedusa, Italy,” tweeted Farrugia. “Stop trying to drag Malta into it by spreading incorrect information.”

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) tweeted yesterday that while “all eyes were on the European Council this week”, the only thing agreed upon was to “block people at the doorstep of Europe, regardless of how vulnerable they are, or what horrors in Libya they are escaping”.

“People are condemned for trying to flee…for trying to reach a place of safety. Today I urge European governments to show some basic decency. They must remember we are talking about human lives and human suffering,” MSF said.

Similarly, the NGO Sea Watch said that while Muscat had “blocked” rescue ships from entering Maltese ports, more than a 100 people, including three babies, had died.

Despite the fact that migrant crossings across the Mediterranean have fallen by some 78% compared to the same period last year, migration has again become a topic of intense debate across the EU.

Italy’s change in policy has placed Malta in a difficult position of having to choose between defending its interests and offering humanitarian assistance to those in need.

The first dispute between the two countries centred around the fate of the MV Aquarius, a vessel that was carrying 629 migrants rescued within the Libyan search and rescue region and in an area, which under normal circumstances, would have seen the migrants disembark in Lampedusa.

Italy insisted that its ports were closed and that Malta should be the one to take the vessel. The standoff was eventually resolved when Spain stepped in and took the migrants itself.

Similarly, Italy insisted that Malta should be the country to take in yet another migrant vessel, this time the MV Lifeline, which was carrying 234 migrants, also saved between Lampedusa and Libya.

This time round, an ad hoc agreement for the migrants to be distributed among nine willing countries, led to the ship being allowed to dock in Malta. Over the course of the MV Lifeline standoff, it emerged that the vessel was not registered as a rescue vessel, but as a simple pleasure craft, and while the ship claimed to fly a Dutch flag, authorities in the Netherlands said they had no knowledge of it.

The Maltese government said that this “previously unknown information” was grounds for an investigation into the ships operations. It added that NGO operations would be suspended in the interim, with no vessels allowed in and out of Malta’s ports.

European leaders have argued that a significant amount of money was being spent on training the Libyan coast guard which should be allowed to work without interference, however, doubts have been raised on how well prepared the coast guard is to solely take on the responsibility of saving lives in the Mediterranean.

In fact, the Captain of the Astral, which is also operated by Proactiva Open Arms, has stressed that the Libyan coast guard had never responded to requests to offer rescue.

“For months now they have been presented as an official body, formal, very well-trained and legal, and these are the same people who have shot at us, who have kidnapped us,” Riccardo Gatti said, insisting that he would continue saving migrants at sea, while following international law.