“Instead of criminalising NGOs that rescue migrants, Italy should mourn the victims of the latest tragedy at sea,” says Lodesani. Several boats have been left stranded at sea because of this hardline approach, which is partly designed to force other parts of Europe to take in more people. Salvini has repeatedly declared Italian waters closed to NGO rescue vessels. The decree left hundreds in legal limbo when its removal of humanitarian protection for those not eligible for refugee status but otherwise unable to return home was applied by several Italian cities soon after its approval by parliament in December 2018. Last year, De Falco was expelled by the M5S Movement, which governs in coalition with Salvini’s party, the League, for voting against a previous security bill, the so-called “Salvini decree”, drafted by the interior minister and targeting asylum rights. But it must be borne in mind that those who do not save people go to jail because we have an obligation to save people in distress.” “It means that those who save lives have to pay. “The new rules contradict the constitution,” Italian senator Gregorio de Falco, who is also a former coastguard official, told the Huffington Post. “It shows the weakness of a government that is not able to guarantee control through democratic means and rather constantly feels the need to resort to the threat of using law enforcement.” “The lives of people are reduced to a fine: a fine that actually goes to punish what is a moral and legal duty and a human act of solidarity. “The draft text of the security decree misinterprets the navigation code and the very basis of the international law applicable to the search and rescue,” Giorgia Linardi of Sea-Watch said. “It is like fining ambulances for carrying patients to the hospital. “The new decree is threatening legal principles and the duty of saving lives,” said Claudia Lodesani, president of MSF Italy. Médecins Sans Frontières, for example, would have had to pay €440m for saving 80,000 people if the decree had been in place during the last three years. The new decree reinforces the powers of the ministry of the interior in the matter of immigration and has the objective of putting an end to the NGO rescues. In the most serious cases, the licenses or authorisation to transfer people on board will be suspended for one month to a year.
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