Three charity organizations operating boats that have rescued nearly 1,000 migrants have been begging the Italian and Maltese governments to allow them to dock into one of their ports to find help for the migrants they say need urgent help.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF), SOS Humanity, and SOS Mediterranee operate the three vessels, which have been stranded at sea for over a week. The organizations said that all their requests to the Italian and Maltese authorities to dock have proved futile as they have yet to respond.
Writing about their predicament on Twitter, Doctors Without Borders said that their boat, the Geo Barents, had 571 women, men, and children, who were still hopeful and waiting for a safe port. The conditions on board are deteriorating due to overcrowding.
SOS Humanity emailed Reuters updating them on their situation and told the news outlet the boat had 179 onboard its ship called Humanity 1, located off Sicily’s east coast, which was still awaiting confirmation on if and when it could dock.
In the emails, SOS Humanity, a German Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), said that it had sent the Italian and Maltese authorities requests to dock for nearly two weeks.
SOS Mediterranee’s vessel has 234 migrants onboard.
In a recent interview with Corriere Della Sera Daily, the host asked Italy’s Interior Minister, Matteo Piantedosi, whether the government would allow the charity boats full of migrants to dock on the Italian coast.
Although he declined to answer the question, Interior Minister Piantedosi said that the country could not take on the responsibility of migrants rescued by foreign boats.
Authorities from the Maltese government did not respond to requests for comments on the matter.
Italy’s new Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who has only been in office for less than a month, has threatened to ban all ships run by charity organizations from Italian waters as the country considers taking a tough stance in dealing with boat migrants.
While speaking about an upcoming book, Prime Minister Meloni said that charitable organizations involved in sea rescues illegally act as transportation for migrants between Africa and Europe, breaching international law. Sources on her staff confirmed the comments.
While talking about the current migrants stranded at sea, she said that the charity vessels had flag nations, Germany and Norway, and that those countries should care for the migrants. She said that instead of the charity ships bringing the migrants to Italy and Malta, they should take them to Germany and Norway.
Prime Minister Meloni said that if a ship belonging to an NGO flies the German flag, then there are only two possibilities on what the boat can do. First, the vessel can be recognized by Germany, after which the country claims responsibility and takes care of it, or second, it can become a pirate ship.
According to the UNHCR data portal, 121,639 refugees and migrants have arrived in Italy, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, and Spain through the Mediterranean Sea this year alone, with Italy getting 71,790, which is more than half.