MIGRANT SHIP ENTERS ITALIAN PORT
Captain of charity ship carrying Libyan migrants arrested
THE Sea-Watch 3 charity ship carrying dozens of migrants rescued off Libya forced its way into the Italian port of Lampedusa on Friday night after a lengthy standoff, the charity said.
Sea-Watch spokesman Ruben Neugebauer said the ship’s German captain Carola Rackete, 31, was arrested and the 40 migrants were still on board after the vessel docked.
After manoeuvring the ship into the port without permission, Rackete was arrested by police for refusing to obey a military vessel, a crime punishable by between three and 10 years in jail.
She offered no resistance and was escorted off the vessel without handcuffs.
The ship docked despite the best efforts of a coastguard boat to prevent her from doing so by sailing back and forth between the vessel and the pier, according to the Repubblica daily.
While five European countries on Friday agreed to take in the
migrants, permission for the Dutch-flagged Sea-Watch 3 to enter port and disembark the migrants did not come.
Sources at the interior ministry, headed by Italy’s far-right Matteo Salvini, had said he was waiting for precise guarantees on “numbers, timelines and means” of the migrant redistribution.
In the meantime, prosecutors in Sicily launched a probe into Rackete on suspicion of aiding illegal immigration.
“Even though in the afternoon the prosecution has opened an investigation against me, they also notified us that they will not help to bring the rescued off the ship,” Rackete said in a video statement on Twitter.
“I have decided to enter the harbour, which is free at night, on my own.”
Rackete had previously warned she was worried about the psychological condition of those rescued off crisis-hit Libya.
The ship and its captain were met by applause from a group of supporters standing on the pier on Lampedusa.
“It’s been almost 60 hours since we declared a state of emergency. No one listened. No one took responsibility. Once more it’s up to us, to Cpt #CarolaRackete and her crew, to bringing the 40 people to safety,” the charity said on Twitter.