NGO Rescue Ship Seized by Italy After Standoff With Libyan Coast Guard
Italian authorities seized an NGO Mediterranean rescue ship and are investigating crew members for aiding illegal migration after they refused to hand over migrants to the Libyan coast guard in international waters.
Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms rescued 218 people on March 15 before the Libyan coast guard approached and demanded they transfer the passengers. The crew of the NGO boat said coast guard officials threatened them when they refused.
“It is perverse to try to characterize as criminal a refusal to hand victims to Libyan coast guard forces knowing they could face possible torture and rape in Libyan detention centers,” said Judith Sunderland of Human Rights Watch.
The boat was initially refused port in Italy but eventually docked in Sicily and was impounded on the orders of Catania prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro on March 18.
Italian authorities seized another rescue ship, the Iuventa, last summer amid a crackdown on NGO rescuers, including imposing a code of conduct. Other NGOs left the Mediterranean, citing threats from the Libyan coast guard.
“I hope that the campaign we saw in 2017 against NGOs involved in rescue-at-sea is not resuming,” Vincent Cochetel, the U.N. refugee agency’s special envoy for the central Mediterranean, wrote on Twitter after Proactiva Open Arms’ ship was impounded.
Latin America Proposes IMF Fund for Venezuelan Refugees
Venezuela’s neighbors proposed that the International Monetary Fund set up a fund for Venezuelan refugees at a meeting of global finance ministers regarding the crisis-torn country.
Venezuelans are increasingly fleeing the country’s political and economic disintegration, straining resources in neighboring countries.
Colombia’s government will prepare a formal statement on the proposal and an IMF official said the organization welcomed involvement in subsequent discussions of the issue.
European Statelessness Index Launched
The European Network on Statelessness launched a Statelessness Index analyzing the law, policy and practices of European countries regarding stateless people.
The index compares the data from 12 countries, including France, Germany, Macedonia, the United Kingdom and Ukraine and plans to add more shortly. It addresses international treaties, population data, status determination, detention and prevention measures.
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