Paolo Naso (FCEI): “A Confused Management of the SAR Area Endangers Human Lives”

ITALIAN VERSION

(NEV) Last night 70 people landed Lampedusa after long hours of waiting with the buck being passed from Italy to Malta

At 2.45 last night, about 70 people from Libya arrived at Molo Favaloro, Lampedusa. Among them many women, some of them with their children, and minors. These People, mainly from Eritrea Ghana and Syria, were rescued by the Capitaneria di Porto (Local Port Authority) a few miles from Lampedusa. They were in good health. Yesterday evening, two Tunisian ships gave the alarm without intervening, reporting that the boat was in failure while still in the Maltese waters. After the Maltese and Italian institutions spent a long time passing the buck, they also involved the rescue ship Mar Jonio of the Mediterranean NGO which asked the Italian authorities to intervene, during the evening the situation was unblocked through the intervention of the local Capitaneria di Porto.

“Unfortunately, we have to report a totally chaotic management of the SAR (Search and Rescue) area. This confusion put at risk people who should be saved when, in fact, everyone should cooperate for their rescue. Actually, the rescued people reported having travelled for 35 hours on a wooden boat unsuitable for such a long crossing in one day, like yesterday when the sea was rough” said Paolo Naso, coordinator of Mediterranean Hope (MH), refugee and migrant programme promoted by FCEI.

It seems to be back to the scenario prior to the Mare Nostrum mission with traffickers using no more dinghies, but wooden boats, unsuitable for such long time sea crossings heading straight to the coasts, since rescue vessels have in fact been removed from the Sicily channel.

“This is why we continue to commit ourselves to the politics of humanitarian corridors, which are confirmed as the only legal and safe way to manage the migration issue in a humanitarian way in compliance with the Constitution and international agreements”, Mr. Naso said.