ROME, Jan 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A charity monitoring migrant boats in the Central Mediterranean said the Italian coastguard had pulled around 50 people to safety after repeated appeals for help.
Alarm Phone, a hotline used by migrants in distress, tweeted that it was “relieved to confirm that the Italian coastguard has eventually rescued” the people, who had first called for help on Sunday.
There were no further details about those saved.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) had said earlier that it had been alerted by Alarm Phone to a boat with some 45 people in distress.
It said its Geo Barents charity rescue ship would assist them if it came across the boat while it was en route to the port of Taranto.
“We immediately requested permission from the Italian authorities to intervene, but received no reply,” MSF press officer Maurizio Debanne said.
“Under international law and maritime conventions, we are obliged to assist those in danger,” he said.
Intervening could potentially have pitted the charity against the far-right government and its strict new decree law on rescues at sea.
The charity later said it was no longer looking for the boat.
MSF published a series of tweets earlier Monday making it clear it was only aiding boats after being requested to by Italian authorities.
It also said Rome had asked the Geo Barents in one case not to assist, because the situation was “being managed by Libya”. It obeyed.
The new decree law was signed by the president on Monday, and now moves to parliament to be converted into law within 60 days, during which time it can undergo changes.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government took office in October, vowing to stop migrant landings in Italy, which reached more than 105,000 in 2022, according to the interior ministry.
She claims migrants and people traffickers are encouraged by the charities which rescue people attempting the perilous crossing from North Africa.
However, the charities say they always follow international and national laws regarding saving lives at sea, and slam the new rules as putting lives at risk.
Most of the migrants who arrived in 2022 were rescued and brought to shore by Italian navy or coast guard vessels, not charity ships.
At least 20,218 people have died or gone missing on the crossing — the world’s deadliest — since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). — NNN-AGENCIES
