Malta could face the brunt of what appears to be Italy’s policy shift on migrant rescues in the central Mediterranean, former foreign minister George Vella has warned.
He was reflecting on the incident that saw Italy redirect a migrant rescue vessel run by the Spanish aid group Proactiva Open Arms to Malta.
“There is no doubt that the latest incident signals a shift in policy as the Italian government tries to relay the message that things can no longer go on like this,” Dr Vella told the Times of Malta.
He said the Italian government had to deal with deep disaffection in the smaller cities as the country faced an influx of migrants escaping from Libya.
“Incidents like this [of the Golfo Azzurro ship] have long been coming and are definitely intended for local consumption,” Dr Vella said, noting that Malta could get caught in the crosshairs.
Dr Vella defended the Maltese government’s stance, which was in line with past decisions on disembarkation.
“The ship may have been carrying just three migrants, but what is at stake in situations like this is the principle enshrined in international law and which Malta has always abided by: that rescued people should disembark at the closest, safest port of call,” Dr Vella said.
The ship, the Golfo Azzurro, was refused entry to disembark three rescued migrants in Lampedusa. It was redirected to Malta, but the authorities here also refused it entry, leaving the ship stranded in international waters for more than 48 hours.
Late in the afternoon yesterday, the ship headed north towards Pozzallo in Sicily. However, after being intercepted by an Italian coast guard ship, it was still stranded in international waters by late evening.
Malta has insisted the migrants should have been taken to Lampedusa. Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne yesterday said the decision was in line with international law. He also sought to play down the incident, insisting it was an “isolated case”.
However, observers have been noting the increasing hardline stance adopted by Italy as political pressure mounts to stem the flow of migrants entering the country.
Dr Vella noted that Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni had even struck a deal recently with the UN-recognised Libyan leader to send Italian naval vessels inside Libyan territorial waters to stop people smugglers closer to shore. Italy has for the past three years taken in all rescued migrants in the central Mediterranean, prompting speculation that it had reached some form of trade-off agreement with Malta. The existence of any agreement has always been denied by all sides.
“The alleged agreement never existed and what was happening was that the Italians were operating further south, rescuing migrants just off Libyan territorial waters before they entered the Maltese or Italian search and rescue zones,” Dr Vella said.
But as Italy prepares for elections next spring, the authorities have been pressured to adopt a more hardline stance.
An estimated 600,000 migrants have reached Italy by sea from North Africa since 2014, and immigration has become a key electoral issue. Populist movement Cinque Stelle, which leads in the polls, has called for an end to NGO migrant rescues, calling them a “sea-taxi service”.
The Italian government has asked NGOs to sign up to a code of conduct which bars smaller boats from transferring rescued migrants to larger vessels and demands that ships carry an armed police officer on board. Some NGOs have refused to adhere to the code of conduct.
Proactiva Open Arms was one of the groups that refused to sign, which is believed to be one of the reasons that its ship was refused entry into Lampedusa.
Italian news agency ANSA reported that Open Arms signed up to the controversial code yesterday afternoon. It was not immediately known whether the NGO’s decision to comply with the code was related to the Golfo Azzurro’s northbound rerouting.