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Italy Arrests Captain of Ship That Rescued Dozens of Migrants at Sea Italy Arrests Captain of Ship That Rescued Dozens of Migrants at Sea
(about 5 hours later)
ROME — A protracted standoff between a ship carrying rescued migrants and the Italian government ended early Saturday, when the vessel docked at the southern island of Lampedusa and the captain was arrested.ROME — A protracted standoff between a ship carrying rescued migrants and the Italian government ended early Saturday, when the vessel docked at the southern island of Lampedusa and the captain was arrested.
The 40 migrants rescued at sea disembarked at dawn, strained and exhausted after 16 days on the vessel, the Sea Watch 3, which flies a Dutch flag and is operated by Sea-Watch, a German nongovernmental organization.The 40 migrants rescued at sea disembarked at dawn, strained and exhausted after 16 days on the vessel, the Sea Watch 3, which flies a Dutch flag and is operated by Sea-Watch, a German nongovernmental organization.
Its captain, Carola Rackete, 31, docked the vessel shortly before 2 a.m., after waiting in vain for two days near the port for permission to come ashore with the migrants.Its captain, Carola Rackete, 31, docked the vessel shortly before 2 a.m., after waiting in vain for two days near the port for permission to come ashore with the migrants.
The Sea Watch, which rescued 53 people off the coast of Libya on June 12, had navigated toward Italy after rejecting an offer to dock in Tripoli, Libya, which humanitarian groups do not deem safe. Thirteen migrants had been allowed to disembark in Italy for medical reasons after the rescue.The Sea Watch, which rescued 53 people off the coast of Libya on June 12, had navigated toward Italy after rejecting an offer to dock in Tripoli, Libya, which humanitarian groups do not deem safe. Thirteen migrants had been allowed to disembark in Italy for medical reasons after the rescue.
The Italian interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has pushed a hard-line immigration policy, insisting that the country’s ports were closed to rescue ships, and demanding that other European countries take the migrants. After protracted negotiations on Friday, five countries offered to take them. The Italian interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has pushed a hard-line immigration policy, insisting that the country’s ports were closed to rescue ships, and demanding that other European countries take the migrants.
In its attempt to dock, the Sea Watch 3 rammed a border-control vessel that was trying to stop it from reaching shore. The Italian broadcaster RAI TV said that Captain Rackete was immediately arrested on charges of “resisting a war ship,” a charge that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Mr. Salvini said on Saturday that Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal would take the rescued migrants, adding that Italy’s tough stance on immigration had “served to wake up Europe and to wake up these countries.” he said.
Giorgia Linardi, the Italian spokeswoman for Sea Watch, said that the situation was “unfolding” and that any charges had not yet been formalized. She said the migrants had been taken to a migration center on the island. In its attempt to dock, the Sea Watch 3 rammed a border-control vessel that was trying to stop it from reaching shore. Captain Rackete was immediately arrested after arriving in Lampedusa.
Referring to the captain, Mr. Salvini told RAI state radio that he had “asked for the arrest of an outlaw” who had put the lives of the border patrol officers at risk. He also asked the authorities to sequester the ship, “which goes around the Mediterranean breaking laws.” In a long Facebook video, Mr. Salvini accused Captain Rackete of trying to sink the patrol boat that had agents on board, describing the events as an “act of war.”
Saturday morning, Mr. Salvini posted video of the arrival of the ship on Twitter and wrote in Italian: “Outlaw commander arrested. Pirate ship confiscated. Maxi-fine to a foreign NGO. Migrants distributed to other European countries. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.” “They say they want to save lives, but they risked killing people who were doing their job,” Mr. Salvini said. He also described the captain and the crew as “criminals,” and he railed against the government of the Netherlands for not intervening, since the Sea Watch flies a Dutch flag.
Luigi Patronaggio, the chief prosecutor of Agrigento, said, “Humanitarian reasons cannot justify acts of inadmissible violence against those in uniform who work at sea for the security of everyone,” the Ansa news agency reported. An Italian judge has 48 hours to decide whether to uphold Captain Rackete’s detention. Mr. Salvini said that she would be put on a plane to Berlin if she were released. “The Interior Ministry has an expulsion order ready,” he said, adding that the ship had been seized.
But a spokesman for Sea-Watch based in Germany said on Saturday that the charges against Captain Rackete and the reason for her arrest “remained unclear.” He added that the organization was waiting for more information. Captain Rackete’s Italian lawyer, Leonardo Marino, said by phone that his client had been detained on charges of violating an article of Italy’s Code of Navigation, specifically “resisting a war ship,” which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison on conviction. She is also under investigation for facilitating illegal immigration, he said.
The captain was notified on Friday that she was under investigation for facilitating unlawful immigration, the spokesman said. Mr. Marino said his client was “very tired” because of the “intense pressure” she had been under. “She saved people at sea, and then asked for a safe port to bring them to, which was denied,” he said.
Local supporters, and some hecklers, awaited the arrival of the ship at Lampedusa’s dock Saturday morning, with one woman shouting out, “Brava, Capitano.” Riccardo Magi, an Italian lawmaker, boarded the Sea Watch on Thursday and was among the last to disembark on Saturday. He said in a phone interview that morale among the migrants on the ship had been low, and that he and other lawmakers had been trying to make sure they didn’t harm themselves.
The Sea-Watch chairman, Johannes Bayer, wrote on Twitter: “We are proud of our captain, she did exactly the right thing. She upheld the law of the sea and brought people to safety.” For migrants who had faced untold horrors on their route toward Europe, “finding themselves so close” to Lampedusa without being able to land had caused further distress, he said. “There was tension and frustration,” he added. “They felt rejected.”
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy, speaking to reporters at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday, said that the Sea Watch episode had been a legal issue, not a political one. “Now it’s up to the magistrate to apply our laws,” he added. He said the ship’s captain had decided to dock because of this state of emergency, which justified her actions. “She decided based on a state of necessity that I saw,” he said. “She decided to end an imprisonment at sea.”
A judge now has 48 hours to validate the arrest of the captain, who has become a heroine to many Italians for opposing Mr. Salvini’s anti-migration tactics. She has been the subject of a multitude of flattering newspaper profiles, with some comparing the German activist to the ancient Greek heroine Antigone. Mr. Magi said that the ship’s crew had entered the port slowly, and had rammed into the border-control vessel when it came between the Sea Watch and the dock. The migrants were greeted by insults “on the part of a small group of Italians in the port,” he added. “There was some applause, but the insults lasted longer.”
After the migrants disembarked, the ship returned to sea and was anchored a few miles off shore. The Sea Watch is not the only ship whose operation the Italian government has tried to scuttle. In 2018, Italy ordered the seizure of another rescue ship, the Aquarius, saying the vessel had illegally disposed of potentially infectious waste.
Though the news media spotlight has been fixed on the Sea Watch for the past two weeks, migrants have continued to arrive in Italy. In the two weeks since the ship’s standoff began, some 500 migrants have landed on Italian shores, traveling in small boats. But as international criticism grew over the government’s hard line against migration, some Italians have pushed back. Leoluca Orlando, the mayor of Palermo, the Sicilian capital, refused to comply with a decree doing away with two years of “humanitarian protection” for asylum seekers, a status that allowed them to live in the country legally.
The Sea Watch is not the only ship the Italian government has tried to scuttle. In 2018, Italy ordered the seizure of another rescue ship, the Aquarius, saying the vessel had illegally disposed of potentially infectious waste. Mr. Salvini said on Saturday that Italy’s objective was to avoid “drama and death” by stopping migrants from leaving their homeland. He said he had heard that two more rescue ships were en route to Libya, and added that the arrest of Captain Rackete should serve as a warning of the risks of coming to Italy.
But as international criticism grew over the government’s hard line against migration, some Italians have pushed back. “Now you know how things work,” he said. “Finally, there is a government that ensures that its borders are respected.”
Leoluca Orlando, the mayor of Palermo, the Sicilian capital, refused to comply with a decree doing away with two years of “humanitarian protection” for asylum seekers, a status that allowed them to live in the country legally.