"Sea-Watch 3" sets course for Italy | Currently Europe | '
"I decided to drive into the harbor of Lampedusa, I know what I'm risking, but the 42 survivors are exhausted and I'm taking them to safety now," the ship's captain, Carola Rackete, had previously announced on Twitter. The EU failed people on board. The captain has no choice. There are no humanitarian standards that justify keeping people on board, according to the Sea Watch headquarters in Berlin.
On the way to Italy: "Sea-Watch 3"
It is also clear to the distress rescuers that the decision will have legal consequences. A recently enacted government decree in Rome provides for penalties of between € 10,000 and € 50,000 when privately-owned ships with rescuers on board travel illegally into Italian waters. According to the new security decree, the penalty must in future be paid by the captain, the ship's operator and the owner of the ship.
The initiative goes back to the leader of the right-wing Lega, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. This raged downright after the announcement of Sea-Watch. "I will not give anyone permission to go ashore," Salvini said in a live video on Facebook. Italy could no longer be a "berth for illegals" and would use every legal means to stop "this shame". From him, the "Sea-Watch 3" could wait outside Lampedusa until "Christmas and New Year", he said succinctly a few days ago.
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The "Sea-Watch 3" has been lying in international waters for days near the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. Appeals from aid organizations to have the rescued rescued in a safe haven were ignored by Italy's populist government.
Strasbourg judgment
Italy receives support from the judiciary. On Tuesday evening, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg had dismissed an emergency application to force the crew of the rescue vessel to land in Italy. The court pointed out that after the rescue operation on the Libyan coast on 12 June, eleven refugees, including children and pregnant women, were already allowed to land in Italy. However, "interim measures" are only provided for in Article 39 of the European Convention on Human Rights if there is an "imminent risk of irreparable harm", the Court of Justice justified the rejection of the application.
Since Strasbourg did not comply with the request, severe fines and the seizure of the "Sea-Watch 3" are threatened when entering Italian waters and landing in Lampedusa.
The organization had called for donations to the organization's legal aid fund following the Human Rights Court's decision.
The ship had originally salvaged 53 migrants off the Libyan coast on June 12. Several refugees were allowed to go ashore for medical reasons. Among other UN organizations, the governments of the European states had called for the reception of refugees. German cities had also agreed to accept the people.
"No punishments for rescuers"
Meanwhile, the handling of refugees and maritime rescuers continues to cause criticism. "What rescue mariners do is in line with international law," emphasized the President of the German Bar Association (DAV) Edith Kindermann in an interview with the Catholic News Agency (KNA). "If you see someone falling on the precipice fall down, you have to help." It could not be that maritime rescue services would be prosecuted.
Council President of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, is in favor of sending a new ship to rescue refugees in the Mediterranean. "It's about creating a broad civil society alliance that will launch a new ship," Bedford-Strohm said.
Insists on humanity: Heinrich Bedford-Strohm
From his point of view, the Protestant and Catholic churches should be significantly involved in such an alliance. Bedford-Strohm described the current situation off the Italian coast as a moral scandal. It is unbelievable that a continent like Europe deals with refugees like that.
cgn / rb (afp, ap, dpa, kna)
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