“No” to their ship request Doctors Without Borders (MSF) Geo Barents to indicate the nearest safe port for the 73 Immigrants who were rescued in the Mediterranean, the Italian government said on Sunday (8/1) as the non-governmental organization announced yesterday Sunday (8/1).
Italy’s interior ministry had no comment.
The dispute is part of a wider tug-of-war between Italy’s far-right coalition government and NGOs over where and under what conditions migrants rescued from ships in the central Mediterranean should disembark.
On Saturday (7/1) the Geo Barents, the MSF ship, received permission from Rome to dock in Agona, in central Italy, on the country’s eastern coast, a long way from Sicily, where in recent years boats non-governmental organizations usually disembark the rescued.
“The Ministry of the Interior (of Italy) rejected our request to indicate the nearest safe port for the disembarkation of the 73 survivors on the Geo Barents. The boat is heading north,” summarized yesterday Juan Matias Hill, the head of the Doctors Without Borders mission, as reported by the Athens News Agency.
After rescuing migrants on a rubber dinghy off Libya, the crew of the Geo Barents asked Italian authorities to allow it to dock at a closer port because it will take three days to reach Agona as weather conditions worsen.
Source: News Beast
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