Italy stops rescue charities flying out of southern islands

Italy’s government has banned charities from flying out of its southern islands in what the organisations say is an attempt to stop them helping migrants.

Rescue charities regularly operate surveillance flights to spot migrant boats that are in distress as they make the crossing from the coasts of Tunisia and Libya towards Italy.

But the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) issued a decree saying that the aircraft would no longer be allowed to fly from Sicily and two tiny islands to its south: Pantelleria, a chunk of volcanic rock with a few thousand inhabitants, and Lampedusa, which has received tens of thousands of migrants and refugees in recent years.

The authority said the flights were “unwarranted” and could impinge on official search and rescue efforts by the Italian coastguard and navy.

Organisations that fail to abide by the new decree risk fines and seizure of their aircraft.

The authority reports to the transport ministry, which is led by transport minister and head of the League party Matteo Salvini, who has campaigned for years to reduce the number of boats reaching Italy.

Humanitarian groups accused the Right-wing coalition, led by prime minister Giorgia Meloni, of banning the flights in order to score political points ahead of the European elections next month.

“The flight ban is politically motivated and legally untenable. In the middle of the European election campaign, Italy is trying to get rid of the last witnesses to European crimes in the Mediterranean. We will not be intimidated by this,” said Oliver Kulikowski from Sea Watch, one of the NGOs which rescues migrants in the Mediterranean.

Seawatch accused the government of trying to “criminalise NGOs for political propaganda”.

The humanitarian organisations say their aircraft are vital in spotting migrant boats and dinghies in distress, as well as documenting the sometimes violent methods used by the Libyan coastguard to intercept boats and push them back to the Libyan coast.

Ms Meloni promised to drastically cut the number of boats arriving on Italian soil when she was elected in October 2022, but last year more than 155,000 migrants arrived, a 50 per cent increase on the year before. With the European elections approaching, adopting new measures to stem the exodus from North Africa is key to her political fortunes.

The government has already made life more difficult for NGO rescue ships, decreeing that once they have rescued one boatload of migrants they must immediately head for a port, rather than stay at sea looking for more to save.

The authorities often assign ports in northern Italy that take days to reach, meaning the NGO ships are taken away from their search and rescue efforts.

The government has a deal with Albania to build two migrant holding centres in the north of the country, and is working with Libya and Tunisia to block the departure of boats.

The Meloni coalition says its efforts are working – so far this year 17,000 migrants have reached Italy, compared with 45,000 by this time last year.