The German government is to fund
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working to support
migrants and refugees arriving in Italy by sea and once they
have arrived, a German foreign ministry spokesman told ANSA on
Friday.
"Funding of hundreds of thousands of euros for a project to
assist migrants ashore in Italy and one for an NGO that operates
rescues "at sea" is "imminent", said the spokesperson, without
specifying which organisations would receive the funding.
The spokesperson told ANSA that the foreign ministry is
implementing a "financial support programme set up by the
Bundestag (the German parliament, ed.) that aims to "support
both civil rescue at sea and projects on land for people rescued
at sea".
"We have received several applications for funding. In two
cases, the examination of the applications has already been
completed. The disbursement of funds in these two cases is
imminent," he continued.
"These are a project for the onshore assistance in Italy of
people rescued at sea and a project of a non-governmental
organisation on sea rescue," said the spokesman, adding that
each project would receive between 400,000 and 800,000 euros.
"Rescuing people who are in distress at sea is a legal,
humanitarian and moral duty," he continued.
"Like national coast guards, in particular the Italian Coast
Guard, civilian rescuers in the central Mediterranean also use
their ships to save people in distress at sea," concluded the
spokesperson.
Several German NGOs already operate migrant search and rescue
missions in the central Mediterranean, alongside others from
France and Italy.
The right-wing government of Premier Giorgia Meloni has
restricted their activities by banning multiple sea rescues and
instructing ships to disembark rescued migrants and refugees in
distant ports.
Italy is struggling to manage a 100% increase in the number of
sea arrivals in 2023, with 132,832 people having arrived so far
according to interior ministry data.
1,599 migrants and refugees died or went missing in the Central
Mediterranean in the same period according to UNHCR data.
Photo: the sea Eye 4 operated by German NGO Sea Eye is one of
several civil rescue ships operated by German NGOs carrying out
search and rescue in the Central Mediterranean.
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