Rome — «We cannot help but feel profound disappointment after this sentence. Five years have passed, but the memory of the unnecessary suffering to which the people on board were subjected is very vivid.” President of Emergency, Rossella Miccio, in August 2019 was on the ship of the Spanish NGO Open Arms, which was blocked for nineteen days awaiting authorization to disembark, repeatedly denied by the Interior Ministry at the time in the hands of Matteo Salvini, who was acquitted yesterday from the court of Palermo.

Why were you on the Open Arms?

«They asked us for a hand, I, a psychologist and a mediator went up. I will never be able to forget the frustration and sense of helplessness of the crew in the face of the failure of the Italian authorities to assume responsibility, while there were people who threw themselves into the water out of desperation, even without knowing how to swim. The castaways were aware that they were putting their lives at risk, but rather than remain on board in those conditions, they preferred to throw themselves into the waves.”

For the court, however, “the fact does not exist”, the crime does not exist.

«We are very curious to read the reasons to understand what did not convince the judges, to what extent all this is not punishable. Certainly, years of trial have revealed one thing: further suffering was inflicted on the castaways, who had already suffered unspeakable suffering in Libya. In vain.”

Open Arms, all the stages of the story that led Salvini to trial by Alessia Candito 19 December 2024

According to Minister Salvini, “common sense” would have won.

«For us, only the malice of those who raise walls and barriers has won and in this historical moment forces anyone who dreams of a better life to face dangerous journeys in the middle of the Mediterranean on precarious boats, because there are no safe and legal alternatives».

Should this sentence be considered a signal?

«It’s difficult to evaluate at the moment. We will have to read and understand first. For us, the principle enshrined in national and international regulations continues to apply: all people rescued at sea, as shipwrecked people, should be considered vulnerable and reach a safe place in the shortest time possible.”

Will a decision of this kind have consequences on the activity of the civil fleet?

«The climate had not been particularly favorable for some time. Rescue at sea has been hindered and criminalized for years now, in a certain sense we are now used to it.”

Will you continue to go to sea?

«Absolutely yes. We will continue to provide assistance to those in danger in the Mediterranean, not only because it is an obligation under international law, but because it is the right thing to do.”

The sentence was greeted with a salvo of applause. What effect did it have on you?

«I just hope that none of the people who were on board during those nineteen days heard them. It would be yet another suffering, after those suffered in Libya, during the crossing and in the nineteen days of useless waiting on board.”