Italy's 'naval blockade' to stem migration too vague, critics say

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government late Wednesday approved plans to ban boats from entering Italian waters in cases of "serious threat to public order or national security", as part of a package of measures to further tighten migration rules.

But the proposal is fraught with problems, according to a joint statement from nine non-governmental charity groups who rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.

The groups, including SOS Humanity, Sea-Watch, Mediterranea Saving Humans and Doctors Without Borders, said the bill was not designed to govern the flow of migrants "but to target and block humanitarian ships, with the result of increasing the number of people who lose their lives at sea".

Before coming to power in October 2022, far-right leader Meloni repeatedly called for a "naval blockade" to stem the hundreds of thousands of migrants who arrive each year on Italy's shores after crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa.

The "border defence strategy" outlined in the bill does not spell out how exactly ships will be prevented from crossing Italy's waters or by whom.

"The naval blockade is intended for cases that are vaguely defined and therefore subject to wide discretion," said the charity groups, adding the measure violated international law and rescue conventions.

According to the text of the proposal, the ban can be imposed where there is a "concrete risk" of terrorist acts, in global health emergencies or high-level international events, or amid "exceptional migratory pressure that could compromise the secure management of borders".

It must still be approved by parliament, and could be modified.
'Risky'
A high-profile immigration judge in Rome, Silvia Albano -- who in the past has blocked Italy's attempts to send migrants to an Italian-run migrant centre in Albania -- said the bill as written was problematic.

"It's risky to say that the naval blockade can be triggered by exceptional migratory pressure, given that this is a frequent occurrence," Albano told La Stampa daily.

"The collective pushback of people on the high seas is prohibited by both the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and by all international conventions," she said, adding that any threat to justify the ban would have to be "truly exceptional".

Meloni, the head of the Brothers of Italy party, was elected in 2022 on a promise to curb illegal immigration.

Her government has signed deals with Tunisia and Libya to limit departures of migrants, and made it harder for the rescue NGOs to operate.

Meloni has cast the measure as a promise kept to Italians.

"To all those who said it was impossible, I want to remind you that nothing is truly impossible for those determined to get something done," she said in a video late Wednesday on social media, adding that she would "use every tool" to secure Italy's borders.

The bill came a day after the European Parliament adopted two flagship texts tightening EU migration policy, including allowing member states to send asylum seekers to third countries to await processing, such as Italy has sought with its Albania centres.