Italian police arrest migrant-rescue ship captain after docking

[rooster59]

Italian police arrest migrant-rescue ship captain after docking

 

Carola Rackete, the 31-year-old Sea-Watch 3 captain, is escorted off the ship by police and taken away for questioning, in Lampedusa, Italy June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

 

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian police arrested on Saturday the German captain of a migrant-rescue ship at the centre of a standoff with the Italian government after she docked at the port of Lampedusa.

 

The Dutch-flagged Sea-Watch 3, operated by German charity Sea-Watch, has been at sea for more than two weeks with 40 rescued Africans on board.

 

After waiting in international waters for an invitation from Italy or an EU state to accept the ship, captain Carola Rackete decided this week to sail for the southern Italian island of Lampedusa but was blocked by Italian government vessels.

 

But in the early hours of Saturday, Rackete entered the port where the ship docked amid a heavy police presence.

 

Live television video showed Rackete being taken off the Sea Watch by tax police and driven away.

 

RAI state TV said she had been arrested for "resisting a war ship" which, RAI said, carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

 

The migrants remain on board the ship.

 

Matteo Salvini, Italy's interior minister and head of the right-wing League party, had previously said he would only allow Rackete to dock when other EU states agree to immediately take the migrants.

 

Even then, he said, Italian authorities would seize the ship and prosecute its captain for assisting people-smugglers, he said.

 

Premier Giuseppe Conte told reporters at the G20 summit in Osaka on Friday three or four European countries were willing to take part in the redistribution of the migrants.

 

Rackete is already under investigation for breaking Italy's beefed up laws against non-government rescue ships.

(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; Editing by Robert Birsel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-29

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[TopDeadSenter]

19 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Italian authorities would seize the ship

Thank goodness for small mercies. Just make sure they sink it so this can not happen again. If that "captain" ever gets to drive a boat again I'm Ernest Hemingway.

[roobaa01]

well done dr. salvini constitute a legal example, have her convicted and jailed for human trafficking.

 

wbr

roobaa01

[stevenl]

5 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Thank goodness for small mercies. Just make sure they sink it so this can not happen again. If that "captain" ever gets to drive a boat again I'm Ernest Hemingway.

Nice to meet you Ernest.

[PJPom]

Good for the Italian Government, the so called rescuers are acting as a free taxi service for the illegals. At the height of the boats in Australia the people smugglers were coordinating with Defence in Canberra to ensure there was a Warship handy to pick them up.  The problems caused by this humanitarian act are still costing Australia a fortune and is still a political hot potato that nobody has the nerve to solve.

The rescuers have become a very big part of the problem and they need stopping.

[anterian]

Break and sell the ship for scrap, use the money to ship the illegals back to their origins, imprison Captain and crew. 

[norfolkc]

Good on the Italian's throw the book at here 

[Chomper Higgot]

The criminalisation of acting with humanity.

 

[billd766]

8 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The criminalisation of acting with humanity.

 

Not really. The best thing to do would be for citizens like yourself is to contact the Italian government to take all of the refugees from this boatload under your own responsibility and let them live with you.

 

You personally would be responsible for obtaining visas for them all, feeding and clothing them, paying for their accommodation and be responsible for their welfare. In addition if they break any laws you will share their punishment.

 

Ian't that what you and others like you want governments in the area to do at the taxpayers expense.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

Even then, he said, Italian authorities would seize the ship

Good news. If there are no ships waiting to pick up the economic migrants the traffickers will no longer be able to persuade others to pay them much money for the journey.

Genuine refugees are still able to apply for asylum in the first safe country.

[trainman34014]

21 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The criminalisation of acting with humanity.

 

Rubbish; people smuggling is already a crime !

[Chomper Higgot]

9 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

Rubbish; people smuggling is already a crime !

Is that what you call pulling people out of the sea?

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Is that what you call pulling people out of the sea?

In the opinion of many, sending a ship specifically to transport illegal immigrants from Libya to Europe is people trafficking, which is illegal.

It's different when a ship on a commercial voyage stops to pick up those in peril when they come on them by happenstance, but not intent.

[roobaa01]

6 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Is that what you call pulling people out of the sea?

i call it human trafficking for next legal  port is tunisia, marocco not italy.

 

wbr

roobaa01

 

 

[stevenl]

16 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

In the opinion of many, sending a ship specifically to transport illegal immigrants from Libya to Europe is people trafficking, which is illegal.

It's different when a ship on a commercial voyage stops to pick up those in peril when they come on them by happenstance, but not intent.

Wiki disagrees with you: " Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. "

 

As does DHS, Interpol, etc.

Edited June 29, 2019 by stevenl

[Ozman52]

23 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Is that what you call pulling people out of the sea?

No, that's what you call taking them where they want to go, and are not wanted, rather than the nearest port.

[PJPom]

11 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Is that what you call pulling people out of the sea?

Further to my post regarding the Australian boat problem the Australian Navy never failed to pick people up even when it was so obvious that the so called distress was part of the smugglers plan. 

The people smugglers were so well organised that they didn’t even attempt to make it to Australia, they simply created a situation and relayed their coordinates by sat phone to Canberra and only started sinking when the rescuers were on site. 

Many urban legends exist about this time but the facts are Australia did what was necessary to save lives at sea and gave themselves an enduring problem which continues to this day.

Migration should be done according to the rules of the intended country, try and get around Thailand’s and see what happens.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Wiki disagrees with you: " Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. "

 

As does DHS, Interpol, etc.

How about if I change it to "assisting in the commission of human trafficking"?

[dick dasterdly]

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Thank goodness for small mercies. Just make sure they sink it so this can not happen again. If that "captain" ever gets to drive a boat again I'm Ernest Hemingway.

I disagree.

 

Surely better to use the ship to transport illegal immigrants to their point of origin?  Likely cheaper than air fare?

[katana]

"...The vessel had rescued 53 migrants off the coast of Libya..."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48809134
If they were off the coast of Libya, why not drop them off in Libya?

 

Maybe the people traffickers will get a long stretch in a nice diversified gaol.

[Chomper Higgot]

41 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

It's always depressing when posters resort to 'personal appearance' insults ☹️.

 

I have no time for her or her ship that was looking for their definition of 'refugees' - i.e. looking for anyone that had paid money to be sent to Europe - but that is no reason to resort to 'personal appearance' disparaging comments.

I disagree with your views re the captain, ship and what they have been doing, but you are entirely right to call out the comments regarding her appearance. 

 

Oddly whenever such remarks are made they are invariably directed against women. 

[Benmart]

2 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

The criminalisation of acting with humanity.

 

How many refugees are you taking in?

[manarak]

22 minutes ago, katana said:

"...The vessel had rescued 53 migrants off the coast of Libya..."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48809134
If they were off the coast of Libya, why not drop them off in Libya?

bringing them to the nearest port would indeed be the logical thing to do, but the people that chartered the ship obviously have another agenda.

 

By the way, many EU countries with a coast on the Mediterrannean have socialist governments, yet none accepted the ship... I wonder why ?

Edited June 29, 2019 by manarak

[Rimmer]

Some off topic and other troll posts have been removed also replies

[meinphuket]

Hope she gets a lengthy prison term

[Chomper Higgot]

1 minute ago, meinphuket said:

Hope she gets a lengthy prison term

I suspect this will wind up in the European Courts.

 

I also suspect you'll not like the outcome. 

[dick dasterdly]

32 minutes ago, katana said:

"...The vessel had rescued 53 migrants off the coast of Libya..."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48809134
If they were off the coast of Libya, why not drop them off in Libya?

 

Maybe the people traffickers will get a long stretch in a nice diversified gaol.

I wish I had your confidence that this will be the case.

[jany123]

3 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Thank goodness for small mercies. Just make sure they sink it so this can not happen again. If that "captain" ever gets to drive a boat again I'm Ernest Hemingway.

Lmao... you do realize there’s a world of difference between seizing and keeping a ship, let alone sinking it, right?

 

best to get the court case sorted first.... but I imagine this will all fade away fairly quickly.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, PJPom said:

...but the facts are Australia did what was necessary to save lives at sea...

For which I for one am truly grateful.

 

Is this the weekend empathy thread BTW?

[jany123]

2 hours ago, roobaa01 said:

i call it human trafficking for next legal  port is tunisia, marocco not italy.

 

wbr

roobaa01

 

 

No one in their right mind would consider Tunisia a safe place to disembark refugees from its neighbor.