Italian authorities continue to hinder the activities of SAR NGOs by assigning distant disembarkation ports. On May 27, Geo Barents vessel rescued some 600 migrants from an overcrowded boat in distress off the island of Sicily. Italian authorities assigned Bari as disembarkation port, despite it would take around 40 hours to reach the port. On May 26, the crew of Humanity1 rescued 88 people in a boat in Malta’s SAR area. The crew was assigned Livorno as disembarkation port, 1400 km and 4 days of travel away. According to the rescuees, another boat was in distress, but Humanity1 was not authorised to come to its aid.
Between 9 and 24 May, at least 7 boats disembarked at least 387 migrants in distress in international waters and escaping from Lybia in Pozzallo and Rocella Jonica. In the same period of time, Italian authorities ordered the return to Libya of a boat carrying 27 people that had been spotted in distress in international waters.
On June 02, Lighthouse published a report showing evidence of Italian and Frontex authorities’ responsibility for the Cutro shipwreck of last February. On May 30, Italian authorities declared that they had ended the search for bodies of the victims of the Cutro shipwreck. The tragedy, one of the deadliest involving migrants in recent years, claimed at least 94 lives.
On May 17, Commissioner for the “migrant emergency” Valerio Valenti declared being working closely with regional leaders on building a new hotspot in the region. Valerio Valenti also stated that the Italian government is planningto create 1,000 additional spots in reception facilities in the southern regions of Sicily and Calabria.
On May 15, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi met in Tunis with his counterpart Kamel Feki and with Tunisian President Kais Saied to discuss migration flows from Tunisia. Aid, assistance, support in intelligence activities and joint repatriation programs to stop migrant trafficking and to stem the influx of irregular arrivals were on the agenda.
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