Italian crackdown on rescue boats 'will cause more deaths'

Italian officials have detained NGO rescue vessels five times in the past six weeks, in an escalating crackdown campaigners fear will lead to more fatalities on one of the world's deadliest migration routes.

- Ashifa Kassam

On Tuesday, the Berlin-based NGO Sea-Watch was told its vessel Aurora was being detained in Lampedusa for 20 days. The order came after the vessel had helped to rescue about 70 people in international waters, many of whom had been suffering from fuel burns, seasickness and dehydration.

"This decision is politically motivated; those who rescue are punished," said Karla Primc, head of operations on the Aurora. "That is the reality in 2025."

Sea-Watch linked the detention to the decision to take the 70 rescued people to Lampedusa, rather than Pozzallo in Sicily, which was much farther away and was where Italian authorities had directed them. It said the decision was linked to difficult weather conditions that put rescued people at risk of going overboard.