MSF ship first to be penalized under NGO decree

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 24 - The Geo Barents run by Doctors Without Frontiers (MSF) has become the first vessel to be penalized under the Italian government's new decree regulating the activities of NGO-run migrant rescue ships in the Mediterranean.
    The ship has been banned from operating for 20 days and its operators fined 10,000 euros for allegedly failing to give Italian authorities all the information they asked from it.
    The notification of the penalty was issued on Thursday after 48 asylum seekers disembarked form the ship in Ancona on February 17.
    MSF is considering appealing against the punishment.
    The Italian government is trying to discourage NGO-run ships, saying their activities encourage small boats carrying asylum seekers to attempt the hazardous crossing from North Africa to Italy.
    Under the decree, NGO-run ships must immediately request the authorities assign them a port of safety after making a rescue, rather than staying at sea to help other people.
    The government has also started to allocate ports of safety to NGO ships that are some distance from their position after making the rescues.
    The decree has come under fire from many quarters, including the United Nations and the Council of Europe.
    Interior Undersecretary Nicola Molteni on Thursday defended the decree, saying it does not aim to "criminalize anyone", but seeks to simply "regulate sea rescues.
    "It lays down rules of conduct that comply with the laws of the sea," he added.
    "Anyone in difficulty at sea should be saved. This is sacrosanct.
    "You don't let anyone die at sea". (ANSA).