Italian court rules return of irregular migrants to unsafe country as crime
Date
2/19/2024 2:31:24 AM
(MENAFN) A prominent court in Italy has rendered a verdict deeming the return of irregular migrants to an unsafe country as a "crime" and sentenced an Italian ship captain to one year in prison for rescuing irregular migrants from Libya in the central Mediterranean and delivering them to the Libyan coastguard.
According to reports from local media on Saturday, the Court of Cassation determined that transferring irregular migrants to Libyan coastguards in 2018 constituted a criminal offense. The verdict was announced in the case involving the Italian vessel Asso 28, which conducted a rescue operation saving 101 irregular migrants at sea, approximately 57 kilometers (34 miles) off the Libyan coast in July 2018, and subsequently handed them over to Libyan authorities, as reported by the daily La Repubblica.
The act of returning irregular migrants to Libya, a country deemed unsafe according to the European Convention on Human Rights, was deemed unlawful, as explained by the daily. The court ruled that such actions violated the migrants' right to international protection.
Giovanni Sotgiu, the captain of Asso 28 belonging to a private company, was sentenced to one year in prison.
While human rights organizations have welcomed the decision, local media reports suggest that this ruling may challenge the initiatives of the right-wing coalition government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The Mediterranean Sea remains a significant route for irregular migration to Europe. Typically, migrant boats in distress seeking assistance are rescued by European non-governmental organizations rather than European authorities. However, these organizations have encountered difficulties in their operations since 2023 due to new regulations in Italy.
Irregular migrants who manage to reach Europe often land first on Lampedusa, an Italian territory close to North Africa.
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