Refugee rescuers to be fined up to €1m under new Italian law promoted by far-right Salvini

Charity says security decree ‘will inflict useless suffering ... putting at risk the lives of vulnerable people’

Refugee rescue boats carrying stranded migrants face fines of up to €1m (£918,000) after the Italian parliament passed a controversial law promoted by Matteo Salvini, the far-right interior minister.

Under the law, boat captains bringing rescued refugees to Italy will face arrest if unauthorised. Their vessels could be confiscated and the owners of the operations face steep fines of between €150,000 and €1m.

The Italian Senate, the country’s upper house, approved the law on Monday with 160 votes in favour and 57 against.

The lower house had already passed the law, which now has to be ratified by Sergio Mattarella, the Italian president.

The bill, which was introduced as a decree in June 2019, also introduces harsher penalties for crimes associated with public demonstrations, such as threatening a public official.

“The security decree, with more powers to police forces, more border checks and more men to arrest mafiosi, is law,” tweeted Mr Salvini, the interior minister. “I thank you, Italians, and the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

But the law has worried observers, who have criticised it for introducing unnecessary suffering without any impact on security.

The UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, expressed “concern” about the law, which it said “could hinder or prevent rescue activities at sea”.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Italy, which has just put a new vessel to sea in the central Mediterranean together with charity SOS Mediterranee, said the law “will inflict useless suffering ... putting at risk the lives of vulnerable people”.

When the bill was first proposed, Claudia Lodesani, MSF Italy’s president, said it was “like fining ambulances for bringing patients to hospital”.

“Clearly, the sole intention of this security decree is to intimidate those showing solidarity with migrants,” said Maurice Stierl, a member of Alarm Phone, which provides hotline support for people crossing the Mediterranean Sea, adding that they will continue to work to “end the mass dying” in the waters.

Sea-Watch, another charity that runs rescue operations in the Mediterranean, called the law “a very dangerous development” and a “deadly strategy” to hinder “legitimate and lawful rescue operations”.

“The decree is an abuse of power that creates a state-led culture of defiance of international maritime laws and conventions that protect human life at sea,” said spokesperson Haidi Sadik.

Carola Rackete, the captain of the Sea-Watch 3, one of charity’s rescue boats, was arrested in late June after she broke a blockade arranged by Italy to prevent her from reaching land after she had rescued 40 stranded refugees.

However, she walked free a few days later after an Italian judge ruled that she was “doing her duty to save human lives” and Ms Rackete subsequently sued Mr Salvini for defamation after he called her a “pirate”.

Ms Rackete remains under investigation for allegedly abetting illegal migration.

The passing of the decree came after a power struggle between the two ruling parties in Rome: Mr Salvini’s far-right League and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement.

The vote in parliament was facilitated by a confidence vote, which is often used by Italian governments to speed legislation and truncate debate through the chambers. Mr Salvini would have had to resign if he had lost the confidence vote.

Additional reporting by Reuters