Italy orders seizure of refugee rescue ship Aquarius, charity says
- Vessel chartered by Medecins Sans Frontieres and another charity passed off 24 tonnes of potentially toxic waste as normal waste, Italian media reported
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Italy has ordered the seizure of the migrant rescue ship Aquarius for alleged illegal waste treatment, Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Tuesday.
Investigators suspect the vessel, chartered by the organisation and SOS Mediterranee charity and currently stuck in the French port of Marseille, passed off 24 tonnes of potentially toxic waste as ordinary waste, Italian media reported.
MSF bank accounts in Italy have been blocked by authorities, the international charity said.
Prosecutors in the Sicilian city of Catania are running the inquiry into refugee clothing, food leftovers and sanitary waste handled at Italian ports from the Aquarius and the Vos Prudence, another vessel chartered by MSF last year.
The ships have rescued thousands of migrants from the Mediterranean with immigration a hot-button issue in the European Union.
“All our port operations, including waste management, have always followed standard procedures,” MSF said in a statement. “The relevant authorities have not contested these procedures or identified a public health risk since we started our activities at sea.”
MSF Italy director Gabriele Eminente said in the statement: “The only crime we see today on the Mediterranean is the total dismantling of the search and rescue system.”
He said MSF had suffered “two years of defamatory campaigns” against non-governmental organisations.
Aquarius has been in Marseille since Manama revoked the right to fly its flag following a request from Italy’s government, meaning the Aquarius cannot legally set sail.
The International Organisation for Migration says about 15,000 migrants have drowned in the central Mediterranean since 2013.
During the same period Italy has seen about 600,000 migrants land on its coastline, while other European nations have closed their borders.
