New immigration crisis hit Italy

The decision of the young Captain of the migrant rescue ship, Sea Watch 3, to head towards the Italian island of Lampedusa to try to disembark 42 migrants saved more than 15 days ago has caused a new immigration crisis in Italy.

The decision of the Captain, Carola Rackete, has been considered as a challenge by the Minister of the Interior, and vice-Prime Minister, the far right Matteo Salvini, the real 'strong' man of the coalition executive that governs Italy.

The angry reactions of Salvini, threatening to arrest and prosecute both the Commander of the ship and the entire crew if they try to disembark the rescued castaways in Italian port, considering it "a crime", has triggered numerous reactions of solidarity with the humanitarian work carried out by Sea Watch 3, on behalf of the German NGO of the same name.

Opposition groups Democratic Party, Sinistra Italiana and Più Europa expressed their solidarity with the decision of the captain, and sent parliamentarians to the island of Lampedusa. At the same time the Evangelical Churches and the Valdese Church made public their commitment to take care of the migrants (which include 3 minors) as soon as they disembark.

For its part, the Rete Antifascists has so far raised 72,000 euros to support the crew in case of having to face possible sanctions, stating: "The ship of hope will never be left alone".

In Palermo, in Sicily , a demonstration took place in solidarity with Sea Watch 3.

The mayor of the city, Leoluca Orlando, for his part announced the concession of "honorary citizenship" to the entire crew of the ship, "to pay a tribute to the citizens who in these last months are protagonists of an operation of humanity ".

The current crisis was preceded by an earlier one caused by the closure of Italian ports, by decree of the Government, to the disembarkation of migrants, which at that time forced a rescue boat, this time by a Spanish NGO, to travel to the Spanish port of Valencia, after several weeks at sea.

Subsequently, the Italian government approved a new decree, on the proposal of Salvini himself, which established heavy fines and legal proceedings against NGOs that rescue migrants and try to disembark them in Italy.

Salvini threats may also clash this time with legal complications because the Italian domestic legislation may contradict the so-called laws of the sea, international in nature, in this case relating to the assistance to people in danger of death, the rule into which Commander Carola Rackete has taken refuge to enter Italian waters. 

She delivered the legal documentation of all the crew and migrants to the Coast Guard, and before the official silence she finally decided to head towards the nearest port, that being Lampedusa despite the threats of the Finance Guard.

All of the above prompted the German NGO Sea Watch to file a complaint with the Italian courts to investigate a possible "criminal conduct" due to the behavior of the Italian authorities.

For its part, the European Union, in the words of Commissioner Européo Dimitris Avramopoulos, is "coordinating with the Member States and is trying to locate migrants".

France has said to be ready to welcome the migrants but the Commissioner clarified that for this, the migrants had to "disembark" before, a right that up to now Matteo Salvini denies, in an attempt to not set precedents and thus keep Italy closed to migration.