Migrants: Piantedosi says, “Sea Watch 5 has breached the rules; 45-day suspension”

“Forty-five days’ detention and a fine of 7,500 euros for the Sea Watch 5. The German-flagged vessel has once again failed to comply with the legal obligations required during operations at sea. This is a serious breach of the law: rescue operations at sea must be managed and co-ordinated by the relevant states, not by NGOs.”

This was stated by the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, in a post on X commenting on the measures taken against the vessel, as reported today by the newspaper *La Repubblica*.

“The Sea-Watch 5 was detained for 45 days on charges of failing to cooperate with the Libyan authorities. It is true that we do not cooperate with criminals and traffickers. Can the Italian Government say the same?” The German NGO stated this on its X profile.

In a statement, Sea Watch points out that on 13 August, ‘after rescuing six people in international waters’, it ‘informed Italy and neighbouring European countries, but not the so-called Libyan maritime rescue coordination centre, a puppet authority serving to legitimise and present as acceptable interlocutors those men and traffickers who, shortly after the rescue, pointed a rifle at us and ordered us to leave ‘their territory’. “Are these the ‘competent authorities’ to which Minister Piantedosi refers?” adds the NGO. The very same ones to whom Italia has paid one billion euros in ships, funds and training, only to see them regularly used to capture and kill people at sea, and return them to camps run by traffickers? Italia and Europe have granted, and continue to grant, legitimacy and protection to these criminals, turning the Mediterranean into a Wild West. These are not fantasies: these facts are backed up by specific names and surnames. We have not forgotten figures such as Bija, Almasri and Saddam Haftar: international criminals accused, amongst other offences, of human trafficking, with whom the Italian Government has entered into – and continues to enter into – agreements. We do not collaborate with criminals and traffickers. Can the Italian Government say the same?’, asks the organisation, before adding: ‘Although 2026 is already shaping up to be the deadliest year of the last decade; despite the fact that last weekend our own eyes and those of other members of civil society witnessed 14 lifeless bodies floating adrift, victims of yet another ‘ghost ship’ disaster, this government’s priority is to detain a ship that saves lives at sea for 45 days.”

‘In Rimini, the right-wing listens to the Pope and applauds when he says that people matter more than borders. But whilst those words were being spoken, Minister Piantedosi impounded the Sea Watch, fining it 7,500 euros for having rescued six migrants and a child at sea. And this happened the day after 15 people drowned on a small boat in the Mediterranean. In the first six months of 2026, 1,300 people drowned in the Mediterranean. Landings are falling whilst deaths are rising: this is proof that the policies of this government and of this inhumane Europe have turned the Mediterranean into a graveyard. Preventing the rescue of people at sea is a crime against humanity. Applauding the Pope in Rimini and then seizing the ships that save lives is yet another painful example of this government’s hypocrisy.’ This was stated by Angelo Bonelli, AVS MP and co-spokesperson for Europa Verde.