Tess Barthes / SOS MEDITERRANEE
After the Piantedosi Law and the Flows Decree, another crackdown on civilian rescue in the Mediterranean is being introduced by the Meloni government. This package of measures does not aim to manage migration flows, but to target and obstruct humanitarian vessels – with the predictable result of increasing the number of people who lose their lives at sea.
The draft bill that will soon reach Parliament risks making Italy the first country to implement the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum, marking a serious setback in the protection of fundamental rights. The new Provisions accelerate border procedures and returns, expand the list of so-called “safe countries of origin” – now including Egypt and Tunisia – and facilitate the transfer of asylum seekers to third countries even without genuine connections. The result is a shrinking of the right to asylum and the risk of exposing many people to persecution and inhuman treatment.
The government’s strategy to push NGOs out of the Mediterranean adds a new chapter. After operational restrictions, mandatory returns to port after a single rescue, the systematic assignment of distant ports, and sanctions against those providing assistance, the bill now introduces the possibility of prohibiting entry into territorial waters for up to six months. This measure violates international law and rescue conventions, undermining the non-derogable obligation to save lives at sea. The so-called naval blockade is triggered by vaguely defined circumstances, granting wide discretion to the executive. If applied, it will mean fewer safeguards, more suffering for shipwrecked people, and fewer vessels ready to intervene at sea.
We find it unacceptable that the government considers as a threat to national security both people at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean and those who try to save them. These measures do not make the State more secure. What truly endangers the rule of law is a government that chooses to suspend legality on land and at sea, to restrict the right to asylum, and to criminalise those who protest or who save lives.
Europe itself, through the list of so-called safe countries and the changes introduced by the Migration and Asylum Pact entering into force in June, is changing its nature: no longer a place of peace and rights, but a “Fortress Europe” built on externalising borders and imposing severe restrictions on migrant protections, including the right to asylum.
NGOs will continue to operate in full compliance with international law to rescue and save lives at sea, refusing to look away. The same commitment should be upheld by Europe and its Member States – without exception.
Alarm Phone – EMERGENCY – Médecins Sans Frontières – Mediterranea Saving Humans – Open Arms – ResQ People Saving People – Sea-Watch – SOS Humanity – SOS MEDITERRANEE
