«This procedure is completely unjustified, since the 3 rescues carried out were coordinated by the Italian authorities and we follow all the indications received from the Maritime Coordination Centers». Thus the Spanish NGO Open Arms responds to the accusations on the basis of which the Italian authorities ordered the administrative detention of the ship that disembarked 57 migrants in Crotone yesterday rescued the day before in the Mediterranean waters. After the disembarkation, personnel from the State Police, Financial Police and Crotone Port Authority boarded the Open Arms to contest a series of violations of the Piantedosi decree which caused the issuing of a 20-day administrative detention.
The Open Arms on Friday rescued 3 small boats from Libya in international waters and then moved on to a fourth event. Among the charges are having obstructed a Libyan patrol boat during a rescue of a vessel and not having complied with the instructions of the National Center for Coordination of Italian Maritime Rescue. «We respect all the indications received from Mrcc of Rome – he says in a video posted on social media Oscar Camps, founder of the NGO – including the one that ordered us to go and see a fourth drifting boat to check the condition of the people on board”. Camps adds: “At sea the rule of law has been suspended, humanitarian ships operate without a clear legal framework, so it is impossible to guarantee the safety and rights of those trying to cross the sea in a vulnerable situation.”