Asso Ventotto brings migrants back. Italy risks condemnation of the EU Commission. Toninelli, "all regular"

The European Commission wants to investigate and has requested clarifications from the Italian Government.

The Italian tug Asso Ventotto rescued just over 100 people and then turned 360 ° towards Tripoli. “Revolution”, everyone shouted at the scandal, “it is forbidden by the rules, Libya is not a safe haven”, so left, NGOs and UNHCRs. Minister Salvini's response was immediate, to which Minister Toninelli, in fact, was “all right”. The Italian Coast Guard also highlighted that the intervention was managed independently by the Libyans. Nicola Fratoianni, who was on the Open Arms ship said, “We contacted the Coordination Center of the Rome Coast Guard to report two dinghies in distress north of Sabratha,“ they gave us no directions ”. Then we interested the Libyans, “we intervene”. In the meantime, Asso Ventotto intervened to rescue one of the rubber boats and stated, “on the recommendation of the Libyans, but immediately after they contradict each other, 'we are following the indications of the platform we work for', that is, Eni's”.

Salvini said, however, that the Italian Coast Guard "has not coordinated and participated in any" operation. And from the Rome command they add that the activities "took place under the coordination of the Libyan Coast Guard". For its part, Eni “denies any involvement in the affair that would have been managed by the Libyan Coast Guard”. Finally, the shipowner reported, "the request to rescue an inflatable boat about 1,5 miles from the platform" came from the Marine Department of Sabratah "and the activities" were carried out under the coordination of the Libyan Coast Guard ", in fact one of their representatives was on board. Asso Ventotto then recovered the migrants and headed to Tripoli, where she then made the transhipment on a Libyan ship.

Since 2012, tugs such as Asso twenty-eight have rescued around 24.000 people at sea. The innovations made by the yellow-green government are changing the scenario, since the search and rescue area (SAR) of Libya is recognized and above all respected. So the operations center of the coast guard in Rome no longer coordinates the rescue operations in the middle of the Mediterranean. In Libyan SAR waters, the Tripoli coordination and rescue center and the Italian Coast Guard intervene, whenever it receives reports, it sends them to the Libyan authority, the only competent authority in its own Sar area and which assumes the coordination of rescue.

The only variant is that Libya is not considered a safe haven and the European Court in 2009 has already condemned Italy for bringing back migrants aboard military ships.

 

Asso Ventotto brings migrants back. Italy risks condemnation of the EU Commission. Toninelli, "all regular"

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