In the early hours of February 26th, a wooden sailing boat carrying up to 200 migrants was shattered against the rocks of an Italian coastline, just metres from the shore.
As the search for survivors continues, 68 migrants have been confirmed dead, 12 of which were children, their coffins lining a sports hall. Some remain nameless, including the smallest coffin of all, for a baby of just a few months — their only identification being numbers scribbled on tape indicating the order in which rescuers pulled their bodies from the sand and sea.
An investigation has been opened into the mishandling of the operation and the needless deaths it resulted in. But it’s clear that these deaths are part of a broader systemic problem, rather than a one-off miscommunication. Will Italy’s new rules address this problem, or fuel it?
A pattern of denying the safety and rights of immigrants
These deaths come just 11 days after an inflatable rubber boat wrecked off the Libyan coast, adding 73 bodies to the mass grave of the Mediterranean. Seven survivors managed to make it back to Libyan shores, although they arrived in “extremely dire conditions”, and will likely now be subjected to the unsanitary, dangerous and inhumane detention conditions that characterize Libya’s detention centres.
In September 2022, the International Criminal Court (ICC) stated that Libyan crimes against migrants “may constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes.” Yet Italy, and the European Union at large, continue to partner with and support Libyan authorities.
At the beginning of February, Italy’s Memorandum of Understanding on Migration with Libya was automatically renewed. The Memorandum represents the European Union’s outsourced approach to border control, where Libya intercepts irregular migrants at sea before they have a chance to reach European borders and claim asylum. In exchange, the European Union provides technical and financial support to these operations through vessels, aerial surveillance, training and a blind eye to violations.
Just weeks before these migrants needlessly died, Libya was handed a new search and rescue vessel, with the promise of four more on the way. Despite the September ruling of potential crimes against humanity, Italy did not seem to be concerned with the human rights violations that may take place with this vessel.
This outsourced approach was born out of a need to curb migration without incurring legal responsibility. A decade ago, Italy was found guilty of violating the rights of asylum seekers the country was pushing back to Libya by the European Court of Human Rights.
A future of denying the safety and rights of immigrants
Although Italy has changed its approach, it hasn’t changed its mission, and isn’t likely to any time soon, meaning that needless suffering, violation and death are set to continue.
The recently elected right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni used the tragedy of 68 migrants drowning as an opportunity to call on the European Union to increase its aggression against illegal immigrants. She used her maiden speech following her election in October to do the same, emphasizing the anti-immigration values of her government.
Those values shone through in a new law established by the Italian parliament just days before the boat sank, restricting nongovernmental vessels in their ability to rescue migrants in distress.
The new law requires ships to request access to ports and head straight to them as soon as they have completed one rescue operation. This law, which selectively applies to vessels operated by charities and NGOs, forces captains to breach their duty to give immediate assistance to others in the area in distress as outlined in various international law provisions, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, the Palermo Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants and EU law.
These vessels often spend several days at sea, completing multiple rescues before heading to ports. This method of working saves time, money and lives.
The issue is compounded by the government’s practice of assigning rescue boats to distant ports in northern and central Italy, at times requiring up to four days of navigation. This again breaches the internationally recognized obligation to disembark at the nearest port of safety.
Beyond this, rescue ships have been told they must collect data from survivors, including their intent to claim asylum, violating the asylum procedures directive of EU law.
Fines of up to 50,000 euros await captains found in breach of these new rules; with multiple violations resulting in vessels being impounded. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has had its Geo Barents vessel blocked for 20 days with an additional fine of 10,000 euros due to accusations the vessel withheld information about a recent rescue.
These obligations significantly increase the costs and risks of operation, leading to fewer boats out at sea. They are part of a deliberate effort to allow Libyan boats to intercept and pull back more migrants.
Despite the insistence of Meloni’s government, fewer rescue boats on the water will not lead to fewer migrants trying to cross the sea in hopes of a better life. It will, however, inevitably condemn more migrants to die and suffer at the hands of an unforgiving sea or an inhumane Libyan detention centre.
Having violated various international protocols on multiple levels, the law has been condemned by the United Nations and humanitarian groups with the UN human rights chief calling for it be withdrawn.
With a staggering 26,085 migrants dying in the Mediterranean in the last eight years and the bodies of children washing up on European shores, can we really accept any law that puts more lives in jeopardy?
Can we allow any country to suggest that the best method to prevent immigrants from illegally reaching European borders, is to leave them to die at sea or be arbitrarily detained in a country potentially committing crimes against humanity? Can we allow for these crimes to be funded and abetted by European powers?
If illegal immigration is the issue, safe and legal pathways for migration, and support for the underlying causes of migration are the answer, not pushbacks, neglect and violations of fundamental rights.
