Salvini trades barbs with Sea Watch NGO

Posted on June 15, 2019 by Europe correspondent Leave a comment

Italy Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has criticized the Sea-Watch NGO after it refused to take 52 migrants collected off Libya this week to Tripoli. The Sea Watch 3 vessel, which is close to the Italian island of Lampedusa, at one stage seemed to have turned towards Malta, but Salvini said it is not navigating there.

🔴Ho appena firmato il DIVIETO di ingresso, transito e sosta alla nave Ong #SeaWatch3 nelle acque italiane, come previsto dal nuovo Decreto Sicurezza.
Ora il documento sarà alla firma dei colleghi ai Trasporti e alla Difesa: STOP ai complici di scafisti e trafficanti! pic.twitter.com/28jWmzfcN7

— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) June 15, 2019

“No Malta,” Salvini explained via Twitter micro blog. “The #SeaWatch NGO ship has changed route again: it is swaying in the Mediterranean playing a game on the backs of the immigrants, even though it asked for a port and obtained it in Tripoli“.

🚫I porti italiani restano SBARRATI.
La SeaWatch ha caricato a bordo degli immigrati che stavano per essere salvati dalla guardia costiera libica. Poi ha chiesto a Tripoli un porto di sbarco, ma quando lo ha ottenuto ha detto che non avrebbe mai riportato gli immigrati indietro. pic.twitter.com/0kqz6hbKES

— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) June 14, 2019

“We are witnessing the umpteenth show,” Salvini continued his criticism of the NGO. “They say they are good, but they are kidnapping women and children in the middle of the sea”.

On the #SeaWatch3, we are now already waiting for 3 days for a port of safety, while the next one is only a few miles away. Now, the MRCC Rome announced a health control on board. We can help you out: All of them need protection. All of them need solid ground under their feet. pic.twitter.com/h2uKaoNu4k

— Sea-Watch International (@seawatch_intl) June 15, 2019

Sea-Watch refuses to anchor in Tripoli for safety reasons. “Forcibly taking rescued people back to a war-torn country, having them imprisoned and tortured, is a crime,” the German NGO said.

Meanwhile the Italian government, based on its right to protect sovereign sea borders the same way as land ones, has endorsed a new decree that would apply to NGO ships with illegal migrants rescued at sea to Italy without official permission fined up to 50,000 euros.

#SeaWatch 'playing' with #migrants says Salvini.
NGO refused to take rescued asylum seekers to Tripoli, saying it is not a port of safety.https://t.co/fFN9639OYi

— Ansa English News (@ansa_english) June 14, 2019

Matteo Salvini rhetoric has hardened after his Lega party impressive victory in the European elections 2019, bringing him a approval of more than a third of the Italian electorate.

Salvini vuole vietare l’ingresso della Sea Watch 3 in acque italiane https://t.co/rBnY3PDsxI

— Il Post (@ilpost) June 15, 2019

In spite of the Interior minister reluctance to accept illegal migrants, the NGO has been successfully using the combination international Conventions endorsed after the WWII dating from colonial era, and the Law of the Sea to continue imposing the flows of illegal migrants on Italy.