Humanity and decisiveness were united during the action in Catania, believes the Italian Minister of National Defense. The authorities helped children, pregnant women and people in need of medical care off the SOS Humanity ship transporting migrants, and then signaled that everyone else must leave. Humanity1 refused to comply with the command.

The Humanity1 is defying the orders of the Italian authorities and will not leave the port of Catania until the thirty-five men on board are taken care of, Il Giornale reported. As we reported, the rescue ship sailing under the German flag, but operated by an NGO, ran in this morning with 179 migrants on board. In accordance with the decree of the new Italian government, children, pregnant women and people in need of medical care were brought ashore, but everyone else had to stay. And the ship was ordered to leave the port.

SOS Humanity released a statement in the early afternoon saying: “At around 11:30, Humanity1 was asked to leave the port of Catania with thirty-five survivors on board. The captain refused this order. Maritime law obliges him to take those rescued from an emergency to safety.” According to them, the survivors have the right to have their case investigated individually by the asylum authorities and to decide individually on their admission to protection. Their collective expulsion is illegal, they added.

In Italy, of course, the case immediately sparked domestic political debates, the left accuses the government of cruelty. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, on the other hand, believes that "humanity and determination were united" when the decree was created and now in Catania, since they are providing help to those who are really in need, and the others have been ordered to leave the port. The Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, and the head of the Ministry responsible for infrastructure, Matteo Salvini, also made a similar statement.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán reacted to the news on his Twitter page. "Finally! We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Giorgia Meloni and the new Italian government for protecting Europe's borders. #ThankyouGiorgia," he wrote.

Meanwhile, the Italian authorities have also allowed Geo Barrents, operated by Doctors Without Borders, to disembark those who are "too weak" under a similar procedure, Il Giornale reports. The newspaper added: there are 572 people on board the ship. In the case of Rise Above, sailing under the German flag, and Ocean Viking, sailing under the Norwegian flag, which are also off the coast of Catania but in international waters, no decision has yet been made, or at least no news has been received.

Source: Magyar Hírlap

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