"A disturbing decision." The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reacted, Tuesday, August 6, to the adoption by the Italian Parliament of a more repressive law against NGOs that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.

The text, adopted by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate (by 160 votes to 57), grants the Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini expanded powers to prohibit the territorial waters to ships that have rescued migrants, confiscate boats from NGOs and impose on their commanders fines of up to one million euros (against 50,000 euros previously).

This new law has yet to be ratified by Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

"An invaluable role"

The European Commission has announced its intention to "analyze" this new Italian legislation to "verify its compatibility with European law," said a spokesman.

"Imposing fines or other penalties on commanders risks deterring or preventing private vessels from conducting rescue activities at a time when European states have practically withdrawn from rescue efforts in the central Mediterranean," he said. UNHCR.

For the UN agency, NGOs "play an inestimable role" in the rescue of refugees and migrants trying to cross the sea to reach European shores. "The commitment and humanity that motivates them should not be criminalized or stigmatized," she said.

In June 2019, the humanitarian ship Sea Watch, led by Carola Rackete, was seized at her unauthorized entry into the Sicilian port of Lampedusa. The house arrest of the German captain was subsequently lifted by the courts, despite the protests of Matteo Salvini.

The deadliest shipping route in the world

UNHCR reiterated its opposition to returning rescued migrants to Libya, "which is not a safe place". On the contrary, he calls on European states to agree to welcome them.

At a meeting in Helsinki in July, EU interior ministers, however, failed to agree on such a "solidarity mechanism".

The Mediterranean has become the deadliest shipping route in the world. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 840 people have disappeared since the beginning of the year, including 576 in the central Mediterranean.

With AFP