The German captain of a ship that rescued 53 refugees at sea was arrested Saturday after she attempted to dock at Italy’s Lampedusa port.
Italy’s far-right, anti-immigrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini accused 31-year-old Sea-Watch 3 captain Carola Rackete of attempting to “sink” a police boat while docking her vessel, which he described as “an act of war.”
As the Associated Press reported, Rackete could face up to ten years in prison if convicted.
Salvini’s refusal to allow Rackete to dock resulted in a tense 16-day standoff in the Mediterranean, with Rackete urging the Italian government to allow her desperate passengers off the ship.
“This is not a game, we’re not playing. We need to get these people off this ship,” said Chris Grodotzki, spokesman for the humanitarian organization Sea Watch, which operates the rescue ship. “We will not wait another night. We are prepared to disembark them ourselves if the authorities continue to neglect their responsibility.”
Thirteen migrants were allowed off the ship for medical reasons on Thursday and Friday, and the remaining refugees were let off the vessel on Saturday.
According to AP, the rescued migrants “hugged personnel of the German Sea-Watch charity who helped them during their 17 days at sea. Some kissed the ground after disembarking from Sea-Watch 3.”
France, Germany, Finland, Luxembourg, and Portugal are expected to take in the refugees.
In a statement, Sea Watch chairman Johannes Bayer praised Rackete for doing “exactly the right thing.”
“She upheld the law of the sea,” Bayer said, “and brought people to safety.”
On social media, human rights advocates applauded Rackete and denounced the Italian government.
“Saving lives is not a crime,” tweeted Greenpeace, a sentiment that was widely echoed.
Human rights heroine and ship captain, #CarolaRackete was arrested in #Italy, after rescuing 40 migrants at sea. This is clearly one of those examples when legality is a matter of power, and not a matter of justice. She should’ve been welcomed with honors https://t.co/aQL8A5r5Hv
— Erika Guevara Rosas (@ErikaGuevaraR) June 29, 2019
“We say bravo to the captain,” Khadim Diop, a 24-year-old from Senegal who was rescued by Sea-Watch 3, said in an interview shortly after docking.
“There was no food, only some couscous eventually. Many people got sick, you know, it was not easy,” Diop said of the last days on the ship. “But because of the woman, the captain, we all had the courage. Because she never gave up, she was always brave, she always encouraged us too.”
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.