Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/853507
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 26 JULY 2017 4 News Italy's code of conduct for 'threatens thousands of Warning comes after more than 2,300 asylum seekers drowned trying to reach Europe in 2017 so far PAUL COCKS ITALIAN plans to impose a code of conduct on charities rescuing refugees in the Medi- terranean Sea "threaten thou- sands of lives", humanitarian groups have warned. A draft of the code leaked to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) would force the ships to allow police officers on board and re- turn immediately to port, rath- er than transferring migrants to other ships. NGOs were to meet Italian authorities in Rome last night to be informed of the document being pushed by Italy. The rules would also ban res- cuers from entering Libyan ter- ritorial waters, using lights to signal their location to boats at imminent risk of sinking or communicating with smug- glers by phone. The document threatened to bar any NGOs who do not sign the code from Italian ports, forcing them to journey further, carrying passengers frequently including pregnant women, torture victims and infants. It comes as Italy's pleas for support from fellow EU na- tions in redistributing around 200,000 migrants in overflow- ing government reception cen- tres have fallen on deaf ears, amid waning political will to support refugees. More than 2,300 migrants have lost their lives attempt- ing to reach Europe so far this year, mainly on the treacherous route between Libya and Italy, while 105,200 asylum seekers mainly from Sub-Saharan Af- rica, Bangladesh and Syria have made it to shore. Humanitarian ships have be- come increasingly instrumen- tal in rescue operations, pick- ing up more than a third of all migrants rescued in 2017 com- pared to one per cent in 2014, and are struggling to cope with the summer peak. Jugend Rettet, which is among the groups operating rescue ships off the coast of Libya, said that forcing vessels to return to land to disembark migrants would take them out of the search and rescue zone "where they are urgently needed". NGOs are deployed to boats in distress by commanders in Rome, with smaller ships fre- quently transferring rescued refugees to larger vessels so they can continue rescues. "This code of conduct is a real threat for thousands of people," said Jugend Rettet's Isa Grahn, adding that it was also "not an option" for the group to have a police officer on board its ship. "Humanitarian work has to be separated from political aims and be protected from political or military intervention." Save the Children also oper- ates a rescue mission in the Mediterranean. "We will engage constructively with Italian au- thorities on any code of conduct that is fully aligned with our mandate to save lives and with International Maritime law," a spokesperson said. "Save the Children operates in line with its humanitarian imperative to save lives, in compliance with international maritime law and in full transparency and cooper- ation with relevant authorities." Vincent Cochetel, the UN Refugee Agency's special envoy for the Central Mediterranean route, said that any code of con- duct must be imposed for all ac- tors – not just NGOs. Speaking at a report launch in Brussels earlier this month, he said that Rome's maritime rescue coordination centre (MRCC) reviews all ships avail- able to respond to distress calls but "often we see shipping com- panies switching off their GPS systems in order not to rescue people. Can we have a code of conduct also for these shipping companies?" "NGOs are out there in the Mediterranean rescuing peo- ple because the EU is not," said Judith Sunderland, associate Europe and Central Asia direc- tor at HRW. "Given the scale of tragedies at sea and the horrific abuses migrants and asylum seekers face in Libya, the EU should work with Italy to en- hance robust search and rescue in the waters off Libya, not limit it." Iverna McGowan, director of Amnesty International's Eu- ropean institutions office, said the draft code of conduct would "risk endangering thousands of lives by impeding rescue boats from accessing the perilous wa- ters near Libya". She characterised the propos- als as part of a "concerted smear campaign" against NGO rescue ships, which has culminated in a far-right group calling itself Defend Europe sending its own vessel to disrupt operations in the Mediterranean Sea. Right-wing politicians have made persistent claims that aid agencies are aiding or even di- rectly colluding with Libyan MOAS to the rescue: Migrants find a helping hand at sea