“Saving lives at sea moral duty and legal obligation” – Corriere.it

We are following the situation closely and, from the information we have, there are three ships with about a thousand people on board and which have requested a safe landing. The Commission is not involved in rescue operations at sea nor in defining the place of landing. However, let us remember that saving lives at sea a moral duty and a legal obligation under the international law of the Member States regardless of the circumstances. Anitta Hipperspokesman for the European Commission, replies during the midday briefing of the EU Commission to a question about the three NGO ships that have requested access, without obtaining it, to Italian ports for the disembarkation of migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea.

Hipper also explained that the temporary voluntary solidarity mechanism on the transfer of migrants – the agreement was reached last June by 18 member states including Germany – it can also be used to redistribute migrants currently blocked on ships off the coast of Italy.

So far, net of the three ships, there have been 8,000 offers of relocations but only 38 migrants have accepted. The mechanism is applied not only to Italy but also to other Mediterranean countries that suffer from migratory pressure. The comparison between Italy and Germany under observation in Brussels but for now caution prevails in the declarations.

Germany asked the Italian government on Wednesday to quickly help migrants aboard the ship Humanity 1, flying the German flag. Currently there would be 104 unaccompanied minors. Many of them need medical attention, Berlin said. The Farnesina asked Germany to have a complete picture of the situation aboard Humanity 1 in view of taking any decisions. An EPP source explained to Corriere that the popular expects the Italian and German governments to respect all their obligations based on international law and to act accordingly.

The Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, in Berlin to participate in the summit on the Western Balkans organized by the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he recalled that Germany is our great interlocutor, a friendly country, but when there is a need to give some message – he explained in an interview with Rai – especially on the immigration issue, we do it with determination to ensure compliance with the rules. We only asked that NGO ships respect European rules when they rescue someone at sea and then ask to dock in the nearest ports. We did it officially, with great grace but also with great firmness. For Tajani we need collaboration between all European countries, but also with the Balkan countries, to stop illegal immigration because it risks becoming an increasingly serious problem for all of us.