Outrage as refugee rescue ship chiefs stay under arrest
The arrest of three officials of a German aid ship that disembarked 37 Africans on the Sicilian coast provoked an outcry in Italy and Germany today, with politicians and aid groups saying the move violated humanitarian principles.
The ship run by Cap Anamur, a German aid agency, had been stranded at sea since June 20. After weeks of debate over who should take them in, the ship received permission to dock in Sicily, but Italian authorities immediately made the arrests.
Authorities also said that some immigrants lied about coming from Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, which the United Nations has described as suffering the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Police said that “from the first checks it has actually emerged that they are not of Sudanese nationality, but on the contrary appear to be Ghanaian and Nigerian”.
The three people arrested were the ship’s captain, Stefan Schmidt, the German organisation’s head, Elias Bierdel, and first mate Vladimir Dachkevitch, a Russian. Prosecutors allege they were aiding illegal immigration.
A hearing to decide whether they must remain in detention was scheduled for tomorrow before a judge in Agrigento.
“The captain and the shipowner could not ascertain the origin of the 37 immigrants rescued in the Mediterranean and they just took note of what was said to them,” said defence lawyer Salvatore Filippini La Rosa.
In Germany officials expressed dismay at the arrest. A spokeswoman of the Foreign Minister in Berlin said a consular official was sent to Sicily “to provide consular support for those involved”.
“It is impermissible that Elias Bierdel be punished because he wanted to help people in dire need,” said a joint statement from Germany’s federal Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul and Harald Schartau, the economics minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the Cap Anamur organisation is based. “Humanitarian actions must not be criminalised.”
The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, in an article today did not criticise directly the arrests but said that “carrying out the duty of rescuing people, whatever their nationality, always takes priority”.
“Political reasoning … can come later,” it said.
In Italy, aid group Arci called for the release of the three, and said the Africans should be granted asylum. “The government’s behaviour is despicable,” said Filippo Miraglia, the head of Arci’s immigration unit.
The centre-left opposition was quick to attack the government of Premier Silvio Berlusconi, which in the past has passed legislation aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.
“Here is where democracy ends,” said Calogero Miccicche, a Greens deputy from Sicily. He accused Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu of carrying out “illegitimate actions”.
The 37 Africans were taken to a holding centre in this city. They have prepared a request for asylum to the Italian government, said Leonardo Marina, a lawyer who works at the holding centre.
Italy may deport them if the requests are turned down. An official in Agrigento said checks were continuing to ascertain their nationality, and said that no decision had been made.
