Italy’s highest appeals court ordered the government to provide financial compensation to a group of migrants who were confined to an overcrowded coast guard ship for ten days on Friday.
Most of the 190 Eritrean migrants were not allowed to disembark at a port in Malta following an order from the former interior minister Matteo Salvini in 2018. The court reversed a lower court decision and found the government’s actions to be unconstitutional and an “unlawful restriction of personal freedom.” Its decision also cited customary maritime law around the obligation to provide assistance at sea, which goes back as far as ancient times, as well as the recent European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) case Khlaifia and Others v Italy.
The issue of maritime refugees and migrants has been a central issue in Italy with conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni calling the decision “frustrating” and “questionable.” Humanitarian NGOs have long criticized Italy for its hardline approach to refugees and migrants with Matteo Salvini having gone to court multiple times over his confinement of migrant vessels.
Under Meloni, Search and Rescue (SAR) organizations have faced increased restrictions from the Italian government and can risk hefty fines for carrying out rescue operations. Since 2014, over 24,000 people have died trying to cross the central Mediterranean, and over 41,000 have been rescued by the NGO SOS Mediterranee since 2016.
Migration remains a significant flashpoint in the global tensions between political aspirations and the rule of law, with rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) urging the European Union (EU), its member States, and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex to prioritize migrants’ safety and rights and make urgent efforts to save lives at sea.
The precise amount of compensation is to be determined at a later date.