Italians seize charity boat for aiding illegal immigration in Med
A MIGRANT rescue boat was seized yesterday amid a crackdown on charities working in the Mediterranean.
The Iuventa, which is operated by a German aid body, was blocked by the Italian navy before being impounded at the island of Lampedusa.
Prosecutors said they targeted the vessel after a long-running investigation showed it had been ‘used for activities facilitating illegal immigration’.
The dramatic escalation of the row between Italy and aid agencies came as authorities began to enforce a ‘code of conduct’ aimed at imposing strict conditions on rescues, even though most charities refused to sign up. Italy has accused the charities of driving the migration crisis by encouraging huge numbers near the Libyan coast to head for Europe.
Both Rome and Brussels have warned the eight charities that routinely patrol the deadly route that they may not be allowed to dock at Italian ports if they do not sign up to the code.
But the Italian interior ministry was left infuriated after five non-profit organisations (NGOs) refused to agree to the regime on Monday.
The ship impounded during yesterday’s operation was managed by Jugend Rettet, meaning ‘youth rescues’, which is among those that refused to sign the code of conduct.
The boat was targeted in a huge operation as it sat off Lampedusa, the tiny island between the north African coast and Sicily. It was later seized under orders from a judge in Sicily. Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said the crew had been involved in ‘the crime of clandestine immigration’. There were ‘contacts, meetings, understandings’ between the group’s boat and smugglers, he added.
Police said the Iuventa, which bears the Dutch flag, had been the subject of an investigation since October 2016.
In a tweet yesterday, the German charity said: ‘We received no information about investigation against us from official sites.’ The Berlin-based charity began rescues in 2016 after acquiring the 100ft boat.
Charities have repeatedly refuted claims that they operate as a ‘taxi service’ for migrants. The code of conduct includes conditions such as for a police officer to be present on each boat and a ban on sending torch signals to attract migrants.
Save the Children joined Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station and Spanish group Proactiva Open Arms in agreeing to the code. But organisations including Germany’s SeaWatch, France’s SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders are understood to have rejected it.
Authorities in Italy have been braced for a record number of migrant arrivals this year.
But figures showed a 2.7 per cent decrease, with 95,215 arriving in Italy so far this year, compared with 97,892 over the same period last year.
‘Meetings with smugglers’