Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/856150
3 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 AUGUST 2017 News MATTHEW VELLA MÉDECINS Sans Frontières has formally informed the Italian Ministry of the Interior that it would not be signing the Code of Conduct for NGOs operating rescue ships on the Mediterra- nean. The draft of the code was leaked to Amnesty Internation- al and Human Rights Watch (HRW), with rules that would force the ships to allow police officers on board and return im- mediately to port, rather than transferring migrants to other ships. "Although we are unable to sign this code of conduct in its current form, MSF already re- spects several provisions that are not within the remit of our core concerns, including finan- cial transparency," said Anne- marie Loof, operations manager. "MSF will continue to operate its search and rescue activities under the coordination of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Rome and in accordance with all relevant in- ternational and maritime laws." 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 smugglers by phone. The document threatened to bar from Italian ports any NGOs who do not sign the code, forcing them to journey further, carrying passengers frequently including pregnant women, tor- ture victims and infants. It comes as Italy's pleas for sup- port from fellow EU nations in redistributing around 200,000 migrants in overflowing gov- ernment reception centres have fallen on deaf ears, amid waning political will to support refugees. MSF said several commit- ments included in the code of conduct could result in a de- crease in the efficiency and ca- pacity of the current search and rescue response with dire hu- manitarian consequences. The NGO said rules limiting the transfers of rescued people at sea from one ship to the other was unnecessary, and that forc- ing boats to deliver people res- cued at sea to disembarkation points would lead to a decrease in the presence of rescue vessels in the search and rescue zone. "A reduction in the number of rescue vessels would weaken an already insufficient search and rescue capacity, resulting in an increase in mass drownings," MSF said. The organisation also said the presence of armed police offic- ers on board and the commit- ment for humanitarians to col- lect evidence would be in breach of fundamental humanitarian principles of independence, neu- trality and impartiality." On the other hand, the Malta- based Migrant Offshore Aid Station has agreed to sign the code of conduct. "Our mission has always been to mitigate the loss of life at sea, and this document allows us to continue to do so," MOAS founder Christopher Catram- bone said on signing the Italian code. "MOAS signed this docu- ment in solidarity with the Ital- ian government and its people, the only ones in Europe who are committed every day to allow organisations like ours to fulfil our humanitarian mission." Catrambone said that if sign- ing the code of conduct was the only way to enable the NGO to save lives at sea, "then MOAS cannot and should not hold back". Catrambone also said most of the requests included in the fi- nal document submitted by the Italian government to NGOs refer to "practices and modus operandi that have character- ised MOAS's operational set-up since its foundation in 2014" and therefore did not require an ex- cessive effort on the part of the organisation. "Each search-and-rescue or- ganization has its own goals and prerogatives, though we all pursue the same mission: that of saving lives at sea. MOAS has always believed that 'No one deserves to die at sea', and is in- tent on continuing to carry out this belief with all the legitimate instruments available to it," Catrambone said. "Our signature on this docu- ment has no political conno- tation: we are a humanitar- ian organisation, and as such an independent one. We will go on with our efforts and remain grateful to the Italian govern- ment for allowing us to continue doing what we know best to do: prevent the Mediterranean from becoming a graveyard." PA website still lacks facility to search enforcements JAMES DEBONO THE new Planning Authority website still lacks the facility to search for enforcements issued against planning infringe- ments because the new website can search only for planning applications. The website, launched last week, was immediately criti- cised for lacking the facility to search applications by location. A day after the omission was highlighted by MaltaToday, the authority re-introduced this search facility. But the old website not only included a search facil- ity through which one could search for enforcement for which one had a number, but also included a list of pending enforcements in each of the 68 Maltese and Gozitan localities. As things stand one cannot search enforcements either by number or through a search by locality. The only way to check enforcement is through the geo-portal by zooming in a particular area and checking whether there is a pending en- forcement. To do this one has to ensure that the geoportal is zoomed at a 1:2000 scale level. Another feature in the old website which is still lacking is a list of pending ODZ (Outside Development Zone) and UCA (Urban Conservation Areas) applications in the 68 Maltese and Gozitan localities. This gave easy access to pending ODZ applications to the public. As things stand, to check for pending ODZ appli- cations in a particular locality one has to download all the ap- plications presented in a par- ticular locality and scroll down to identify ODZ applications. A spokesperson for the authority did not exclude the reintroduc- tion of these search facilities. "Further services and search capabilities will be provided as part of our ongoing programme to enhance the online user ex- perience," the spokesperson said. He also insisted that the new website was not created to deprive or restrict the pub- lic from accessing development planning data. "The authority had used the analytics of the old website to guide it on what services were the most popular and com- monly used," he added. Migrant rescue NGOs at loggerheads over Italian code of conduct