Migrants Demand Italian Leaders To Compensate For Long Stay Aboard Rescue Ship - Sources

Fakhir Rizvi Published February 21, 2019 | 10:05 PM

A group of migrants who were rescued by Italian sailors in the Mediterranean last August appealed to a Rome court demanding compensation from the country's leadership for their long stay aboard the Diciotti vessel, sources in the Italian Interior Ministry told Sputnik on Thursday

ROME (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2019) A group of migrants who were rescued by Italian sailors in the Mediterranean last August appealed to a Rome court demanding compensation from the country's leadership for their long stay aboard the Diciotti vessel, sources in the Italian Interior Ministry told Sputnik on Thursday.

These are 40 adults and one minor refugee among the plaintiffs. Each of them demands 42,000 to 72,000 Euros ($47,600-$81,600) in damages from Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.

On August 15, the Italian Coast Guard rescued 177 migrants on their way from Africa and took them on board its Diciotti vessel. Salvini did not give permission for their disembarkation and demanded that a solution be found at the EU level using the practice of distributing migrants among EU member states. His demand was supported by Conte. Since neither Maltese nor Italian authorities agreed to allow migrants to disembark at their ports, the ship was forced to remain at sea.

The migrants spent 10 days on board the ship before they were allowed to get off at the port of Catania in Sicily.

This story caused a debate in the country, with left-wing opposition politicians, as well as activists, accusing Salvini of abuse of power. The prosecutors of several Sicilian provinces opened an investigation against Salvini on charges of intentionally restricting the freedom of a group of individuals and abuse of power. Salvini repeatedly refuted the accusations, saying that he acted in the national interests of Italy.

As a result, a special commission of the Italian parliament's lower house was forced to take up this case. On Tuesday, the lawmakers voted against launching judicial process against Salvini. Later, the Italian parliament's upper house will have to vote on this issue. As expected, it will reject the case as well.