Blocking refugee ship creates ‘black hole’ in Mediterranean

The ProActiva Open Arms refugee rescue ship remains blocked in Italy, and crew members are facing fines of 15,000 euros per refugee, and jail time of up to 3 years. The lawsuit was presented by Italian authorities, in an investigation for an operation carried out by the NGO, which ultimately saved 216 people from drowning. And the ship’s immobilization is creating a “black hole” in the Mediterranean, according to NGO head Òscar Camps.

“It’s what they want, for us to not know what’s happening,” affirmed Camps, at a press conference in Badalona, north of Barcelona, on March 29. Camps spoke at length of the humanitarian consequences of the vessel remaining blocked in Italy while the refugee crisis is ongoing.

A “nonexistent judicial argument”

The defense for the NGO and for the ship’s captain also spoke at the press conference. The lawyer for the aforementioned, Jaime Rodrigo, explained that the ship will remain docked for at least 20 days more, leaving time for the Italian prosecution of the Sicilian city of Ragusa to amend the lawsuit, which accuses two crew members of fostering illegal immigration.

This week, an Italian judge rejected the potential charge of criminal organization, and will now reexamine the case through the lens of fostering illegal immigration. Rodrigo further stated that “the judicial argument is nonexistent.”  The two lawyers explained that the immobilization could last “a long time,” until the judicial proceedings are completed.

Tensions on the high seas

During the rescue operation in international waters that led to the judicial proceedings against the organization, Libyan coastguards arrived with the aim of taking refugees back to Africa, and tensions rose quickly.

The Open Arms rescue ship had received the location of a refugee boat from Italian coastguards. The Libyan coastguards left after three hours, but the rescue ship remained at sea for more than a day, as no port authorized it to dock. Eventually, they were allowed to berth in south Sicily, but were later charged with criminal offenses by local prosecutors.