Petra Krischok, spokeswoman for SOS Humanity, told reporters in Catania that it was illegal not to accept all the migrants, saying the 179 people at Humanity1 are “refugees, in a very vulnerable situation, some of them are clearly badly injured and in need both medical and psychological help’. Aboubakar Soumahoro, an Ivorian-born Italian trade unionist and Green Federation MP, told reporters in Catania that the new policy was “inhumane”. “Free all the people, free them,” he demanded. The passengers faced “trauma, they faced everything we can define as prolonged suffering, a hell,” Soumahoro said. This is not the first time that a Union home minister has attempted to block or partially block the arrival of migrants.
Controversial case
In 2019, Mr Salvini, in his then role as interior minister, refused to allow the Open Arms, a Spanish NGO rescue ship, to dock in Palermo, with 147 migrants. Although then Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte had agreed to allow the Spanish ship to dock, Mr Salvini asked the Palermo prosecutor’s office to cancel that order. Finally, after days of legal and political battle, the ship docked. This incident led to an ongoing court case in which Mr Salvini is accused of dereliction of duty. The case was due to come to court shortly before the recent general election, but was postponed due to the ill health of Mr Salvini’s lawyer, Giulia Bongiorno, who is a League senator.
