• Migration: The Open Arms asks for urgent permission to dock for the "critical situation" of immigrants but Salvini refuses
  • The Ocean Viking of Doctors Without Borders awaits authorization to dock in Italy or Malta with 356 immigrants

If you do not speak with the local accent, in Lampedusa the question is quick and simple: "Tourist or journalist?". The inhabitants of the island furthest from the rest of Italy live these days with attention and some concern what is happening with migrants and refugees aboard the Open Arms. "These migrants are simply people with bad luck. I don't know what it is for them to be here adrift next to them. Maybe it would be better to help them in their countries, right? I don't know. Would they really be better here? With these politicians that we have in Italy, who are fighting all day? Probably better here than on their land . Namely what they have lived, "says EL MUNDO Calogero, 65-year-old islander, with the four car lights on. His thinking is a good summary of the opinion of many of the premises around the central Via Roma, the only avenue in Lampedusa. With a little good view, the Open Arms can be seen even from the island's own coast.

The situation remains totally blocked for the ship, which has been drifting for 16 days, although it is now only one kilometer from the Italian mainland. The 134 migrants who are still on board at the moment are increasingly demoralized because they do not know what will happen or how long they could be landed. At the moment, in collaboration with some doctors on the island, the Spanish NGO has managed to have about twenty migrants evacuated for health reasons in the last 36 hours. The immediate objective of the Open Arms would be to be able to disembark at least the 29 minors. And in this sense, they are close because the Palermo children's prosecutor has already assigned them tutors, according to the NGO via Twitter. For his part, the mayor of Lampedusa, Salvatore Martello , supported the entry of migrants to the island: "We are now in the farce, in the ridiculous . " "If there is a serious problem on a ship, it is useless to be dropped to droppers," he lamented, referring to those who have descended from the ship.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini continues to make sovereign propaganda by taking advantage of his position of power, being the key figure in this sine die blockade. According to him, the health emergency aboard the Open Arms is a "nonsense": "We are facing the nth tease of the Spanish NGO that for days has erred in the Mediterranean with the sole objective of collecting as many people as possible to bring them only and exclusively to Italy. " And he adds: "This type of NGO only makes political battle over the skin of migrants and against our country. But I don't give up."

Meanwhile, the Prosecutor's Office of Agrigento (Sicily) has opened a case of kidnapping of a person, still against strangers. The Italian Justice has begun to operate in this line after the formal intervention of Open Arms lawyers who have asked to initiate an investigation based on "kidnapping of people, violence and abuse of power" against Salvini. On the other hand, an association of Italian jurists has come in the same way to the Prosecutor's Office of Agrigento to denounce the disobedience of the ruling of the Italian court that has allowed the access of the Spanish ship to the Italian waters last Tuesday. Between the lines, it is understood that, sooner or later, it is very likely that he will point his finger against Salvini for being the first person responsible for preventing the access of the Open Arms to the Lampedusa Favaloro pier.

The Interior Minister punished the Open Arms on Thursday by preventing him from landing despite the judicial endorsement - the Lazio Administrative Court on Wednesday suspended the ban on entering Italian waters without authorization - and deaf ears at the request of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte , who through a harsh letter to the Interior Minister called him "disloyal" and asked for assistance for the group of migrants. And the more support he receives the idea that the Open Arms can enter the Italian island, the more Salvini refuses to open the door to the boat. The leader of the League said on the social network Twitter: "Reopening of ports? Not in my name!". The Italian Defense Minister, Elisabetta Trenta , like Conte, supports the decision to enter the ship into Italian territory.

Also yesterday the European Commission warned that the distribution work cannot begin if they are not yet on land : "It is clear that we cannot distribute to migrants if there is no landing," the Migration spokeswoman of the Community Executive told the press Tove Ernst At the moment, there are six countries that showed their willingness to cooperate with the distribution of refugees: France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and Spain . The president of the European Parliament, David Maria Sassoli, urged the Italian Government to allow the landing and to understand "gravity" and "humanitarian urgency".

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  • Open arms
  • Matteo Salvini
  • Italy
  • European Parliament
  • Portugal
  • Germany
  • European Comission
  • Defense and Justice
  • Spain

Immigration The Government does not even intercede with the EU in favor of Open Arms

MediterraneanMatteo Salvini, a minister with powers over the head of the Government

Immigration The Open Arms manages to evacuate 9 immigrants to Italy for psychological reasons