The Council of Ministers of Italy overhauled on Tuesday the controversial security decree introduced by former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini that fined charity ships for rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean and bringing them to Italy
GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2020) The Council of Ministers of Italy overhauled on Tuesday the controversial security decree introduced by former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini that fined charity ships for rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean and bringing them to Italy.
In 2018, Matteo Salvini, the then interior minister and Lega party leader, conducted the policy of "closed ports" to prevent rescue ships carrying migrants from docking in Italy. He introduced the security decree that envisaged high fines for non-government groups and charities that seek to bring migrants saved in the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.
In the government that was formed in September 2019, Luciana Lamorgese, a former prefect of Milan who does not belong to any political party, became the interior minister, demonstrating the government's intent to depoliticize the migration issue.
"The Council of Ministers, on the proposal of President Giuseppe Conte and Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese, approved a decree that introduces urgent provisions on immigration. The text [of the decree] addresses the sanctions relating to the ban on the transit of ships in the territorial sea. It is envisaged that, in the event that there are risks to the public order and security or a violation of the rules related to migrant trafficking by sea, prohibitive measures will be adopted, on the proposal of the Minister of the Interior, with the consent of the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Infrastructure, after informing the Prime Minister," the press release of the government reads.
Prohibitive measures will not apply in case "there has been a communication with the coordination center and the flag State, and the indications of the competent authority for search and rescue operations at sea have been respected."
According to the new decree, rescue ships that turn out to be operating illegally would be punished by a fine between 10,000 and 50,000 Euros, with possible imprisonment for crew members of up to two years. But the administrative penalties introduced previously have been eliminated by the new decree, which gives a green light to NGO vessels carrying out rescue operations in line with the maritime law and the Italian regulations.
