ABSTRACT
In the summers of 2018 and 2019, in the context of an increasingly restrictive approach to migration, the Italian authorities delayed the indication of a place of safety (POS) to a number of vessels – including military, commercial and NGO vessels – which had rescued migrants in the central Mediterranean, forcing the rescued persons to remain on board, sometimes for a significant number of days. More recently, the new Italian Government taking office in October 2022, after adopting, and subsequently abandoning, what has been referred to as a “selective disembarkation” approach, inaugurated the practice of indicating to NGO vessels safe ports which are distant – sometimes several days of navigation away – from the area in which the rescue operation has taken place. This latter practice, in combination with new rules introduced by Decree-law no. 1 of 2023 to the effect of preventing multiple rescue operations, has resulted in keeping vessels away from rescue areas for many days, thus reducing the numbers of migrants brought to Italy by NGOs carrying out SAR activities. Concerns have been expressed over the impact of these practices on the internationally protected human rights of the rescued persons, including their rights to life, to personal liberty, not to be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment and to seek asylum from persecution in other countries. This short essay addresses the creation of barriers against disembarkation of persons rescued by NGO vessels from a human rights perspective.
