Decree for the management of migratory flows, the Italian NGOs: “It is in contrast with international law, the Parliament intervenes”

ROME – L’AOI – L’Association of Italian NGOs – noted with regret the formalization of the Law Decree n.1/2023, proposed by the Council of Ministers “containing urgent provisions for the management of migratory flows”, following the signature of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. This is a new version of the Code of Conduct for NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) engaged in SAR, Search and Rescue, that is, in the sea rescues of migrants and refugees fleeing for freedom and life, transported by human traffickers on rubber dinghies and boats in the Mediterranean. “Centre-left and center-right government coalitions, from 2017 to today – reads a note released by AOI – albeit with different accents and addresses, have produced restrictive measures for NGOs that have not solved the problem of ‘irregular’ migrations. This decree – the document continues – forgets people and blames those who try to save them, as he told the microphones of Vatican News Monsignor Giancarlo Perego, president of the commission for migration of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) and of the Migrant Foundation.

What NGOs really do. The NGOs that have taken on the responsibility of preventing further loss of human life in the Mediterranean have operated in compliance with the laws in force since October 2014: it was then that theOperation Mare Nostrum rescue of migrants from the Libyan coast in the Strait of Sicily, implemented since 2013 by the forces of the Navy and the Air Force of our country. The current government defines the proposed decree as a ‘squeeze’ on NGOs. In the message of the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, entrusted to social networks, there is talk of ‘systematic violations of the rules’ by ‘commercial’ ships which in the Mediterranean ‘go back and forth to transfer people from one nation to another’, ‘use’ and ‘make unscrupulous smugglers make billions’. “Humanitarian organizations, actually – underlines Silvia Stilli, Spokesperson AOI – both on land and at sea, they deal with saving human lives, guaranteeing a lawful and ethically unquestionable way of salvation for the victims of famine and environmental disasters, hunger and poverty, pandemics, violence and wars. They carry out rescues at sea in accordance with an already extensive international legal framework on SAR. This is why I find what President Meloni said unjustified “.

Contradictory rules with respect to international law. “The Government – continues the AOI note – has chosen the decree of urgency to reaffirm practices that have long been in use and respected by sea rescue organizations; at the same time it has introduced regulations that are contradictory to international law and not clearly defined. We note that the provision envisaged in the decree law, which obliges organizations that have already carried out a rescue to reach a safe port without delay, is certainly an important assumption of responsibility by the government in taking charge of the coordination of search and rescue activities. In this way, hopefully, the very long waits that have occurred up to now will be avoided.This provision, however – continues the document – cannot contradict what is sanctioned by the UNCLOS Convention, which obliges the ship’s master to provide further assistance to people in difficulty , in case he has news of a boat in distress and is in condition to be able to do it quickly”.

Multiple saves cannot be prohibited. In this case, therefore, multiple bailouts cannot be prohibited, as has been repeatedly evoked by government officials. “If the spirit on which the new Code of Conduct is based is to guarantee the conclusion of the rescue in the shortest possible time – the AOI note continues – we hope that what has happened in recent days will not be repeated with the assignment of ports of disembarkation which are up to four days at sea from the ships’ last position or force them to circumnavigate the peninsula with infants and medical emergencies on board.The destination of distant ports for disembarkation will lead to a limitation of the presence of rescue vessels in the Mediterranean and will inevitably translate into an even higher number of shipwrecks and pushbacks to prison camps in Libya, where there is no respect for human rights and many lives are lost.Already now – concludes the document – the NGOs are unable to secure if not 10% of migrants fleeing the Mediterranean”.

The controversial points of the Decree Law. Among the controversial points addressed in the Decree Law, there is that of the first verification of the existence of the requisites for obtaining the right to asylum, which should be the task of those who stay on SAR ships: it is an activity that must be educated and followed by national and international organizations and institutions that have the competence, therefore it goes beyond the important information activity aimed at rescued people. “On the one hand, we want to limit the work of NGOs in aid because they are considered pull factor for irregular immigration and trafficking in human lives – Silvia Stilli continued – on the other hand, at the time of rescue, they are improperly given significant responsibilities on the issue of asylum. An evident contradiction” – concludes Stilli – the decree will have to be converted into law: from now on the responsibility shifts to the Parliament. We will ask deputies and deputies, senators and senators to deal with their personal conscience and political coherence.”