Dealing with migrants: Brussels criticizes government stance in Rome EU authority: dengue fever and malaria are coming to Europe due to climate change

The EU commission has strongly criticized the actions of the Italian authorities with the ship “Ocean Viking” used to rescue migrants. Requires that all rescued persons on board the ship can disembark immediately at the nearest safe harbor, announced the authority responsible for compliance with EU law on Wednesday evening. The situation on board has reached a critical level and urgently needs to be addressed to prevent a humanitarian tragedy.

“The legal obligation to save and safeguard life at sea is clear and unequivocal – regardless of the circumstances that place people in distress,” the statement continues.

The background to the sharp words from Brussels is the previous refusal by the Italian authorities to allow the “Ocean Viking” to enter a port. The ship with 234 migrants on board was therefore on its way to France and hopes to be taken there. According to the crew, the migrants had rescued them from the waters off the coast of Libya, among other things.

It was only after the intervention of the Catania health department that people from several other rescue ships were allowed to land in Italy. The new right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called this decision by the health department “bizarre”, as she told party members on Wednesday, according to Ansa news agency. She therefore claimed that the people on board were migrants and not castaways, so it was not Italy’s duty to let them ashore. (saw/sda/dpa)