Deputy Premier and Infrastructure
Minister Matteo Salvini said Friday that the government has no
intention of heeding the Council of Europe's call for it to
withdraw its recent decree regulating the activities of NGO-run
migrant rescue ships in the Mediterranean.
"Not even a comma of the NGO decree will change," Salvini said.
"My interest (in what the Council of Europe says) is less than
zero.
"We are a sovereign country with a parliament and a
democratically elected government.
"Instead of giving lessons, Europe should help Italy so that it
is not the only place where immigrants dock.
"It should give a hand to Italy, which has been left alone in a
dramatic way".
The Council of Europe is a human rights body that is separate
from the European Union.
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.
They risk big fines and the impoundment of the ships if they
fail to comply.
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 Council of Europe said Thursday that its Commissioner for
Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic wrote to Italian Interior Minister
Matteo Piantedosi on January 26 expressing concerns that the
decree "could hinder the provision of life-saving assistance by
NGOs in the Central Mediterranean and, therefore, may be at
variance with Italy's obligations under human rights and
international law".
In its reply, the Italian government said the concerns expressed
by Mijatovic were "groundless".
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