- The Ocean Viking draws a "heart" in the Mediterranean
- Migrants. Doctor on Ocean Viking: worries shipwrecked stress, could get worse
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22 August 2019The Ocean Viking ship is currently in international waters with 356 migrants on board (including 103 foreign minors, most of them unaccompanied), rescued with four interventions carried out between 9 and 12 August.This is the umpteenth deadlock concerning the assignment of a safe place to disembark to a ship with people rescued at sea, a situation in which conflicts of competence arise between European countries. In this context, which requires networks of cooperation not only between the responsible authorities, but also between the independent guarantee bodies of the various countries involved, the National Guarantor has often recorded the absence of the voice of its counterparts, the National Prevention Mechanisms ( NPM) Europeans under the UN Protocol to the Convention against Torture or Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (Opcat).
Faced with the prospect of the occurrence of a new 'de facto' deprivation of the freedom of rescued people, of unspecified duration, the National Guarantor has taken an initiative to involve two European NPMs, with the aim of strengthening the protection of people's rights on board. In particular, the National Ombudsman sent a letter to the Parliamentary Ombudsman of Norway, Aage Thor Falkanger, to the Norwegian NPM President, Helga Fastrup Ervik, and to the President of the Board of Visitors for Detained Persons of Malta, Andre Camilleri (and, for information , to Malcom Evans, President of the UN Sub-Committee for the Prevention of Torture, who is responsible for coordinating the various national NPMs, or to the independent authorities, respectively, of the flag State of the ship that has jurisdiction over the persons aboard and of the State with which a conflict of competence arose over the assistance to be provided.
In the letter the national Guarantor invites them to urgent joint action (in the form of a letter, a complaint to the judicial authorities or similar actions) with the respective national authorities. This proposal intends to initiate initiatives coordinated between NPMs, with the aim of raising awareness and empowering the various national authorities at the same time regarding compliance with international obligations to which they are equally bound.
For over a year, the National Ombudsman has carefully observed the question of the protection of migrant people first rescued, then blocked for days aboard the boat that drew them to safety: it did so also with a visit on board in the well-known case of the "Ubaldo Diciotti" ship and with information to the competent prosecutors. This on the basis of an assessment of the actual situations determined, independently of political evaluations or relative to the behavior of the persons responsible for the operations. For it is certain that no person can remain in a limbo without rights, at the risk of being rejected and in material conditions that deteriorate every day. This situation, which can be described as a 'de facto' deprivation of their personal freedom, implicitly exposed them to the risk of being rejected. Furthermore, its prolongation, sometimes for weeks, can lead to a violation of the right to dignity that absolutely concerns every person.
Msf: from 13 days with 356 on board, let us disembark immediately
"The only OceanViking route is that of humanity. We have had 356 survivors aboard for 13 days who have already suffered enough. We ask that they be able to land immediately in a safe harbor. Help us spread #apriteipuori #apriteicuori". It is written on Twitter by Doctors Without Borders.
The only route of #OceanViking is that of humanity❤️
We have had 356 survivors aboard for 13 days who have already suffered enough.
We ask to be able to land immediately in a safe harbor.
Help us spread #apriteiporti # apriteicuori❤️
Thanks @maurobiani pic.twitter.com/lA46Cg2VyN
The Mayor of Lampedusa: it will be difficult to welcome migrants from Ocean Viking
"Lampedusa can hardly accommodate the 365 migrants of the Ocean Viking ship of Sos Méditerranée and Doctors without borders. The mayor of Lampedusa Salvatore Martello told AFP. After the emergency on the Open Arms, with the landing in Lampedusa (island in the province of Agrigento) of migrants after 19 days they were on board, the case of the Sos Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders ship opens up, off the coast of Malta and Italy in search of a safe harbor for days now.