THREE refugee rescue organisations announced today that they are taking legal action against the Italian authorities for the unlawful detention of their rescue ships.
SOS Humanity, Sea-Watch and Sea-Eye released a joint statement today blasting the authorities’ reasoning for keeping their ships in port for a total of 100 days.
The Humanity 1 and Sea-Watch 5 have are being kept in port for 20 days each, while the Sea-Eye 4 is being held for 60 days.
The crews of the three ships rescued a total of 390 people in the central Mediterranean last week, but the authorities allege their crews were uncooperative with the Libyan coastguard.
“Each of the three current detentions is based on false accusations and unlawful demands,” reads the organisations’ joint statement.
“The Italian authorities falsely refer to uncooperative behaviour by the ships’ crews towards the so-called Libyan coastguard.
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