The young German captain of a migrant-rescue ship stranded off Italy dismissed t...
ROME - The young German captain of a migrant-rescue ship stranded off Italy dismissed threats of arrest and personal criticism from the country’s far right interior minister on Friday, saying her main priority was the safety of 40 rescued Africans.
Speaking to reporters from her ship, the Sea Watch, via a Skype connection, Rackete said she was forced to enter Italian waters due to the worsening condition of the migrants plucked by her crew from international seas off Libya on June 12. “When I realized it, I felt a moral obligation to help those who did not have the same opportunities as me.”
On Friday, Salvini also compared her with an earlier rescue volunteer from another charity, a man who sported a red mohawk and was reported to have called the minister a “fascist”.Salvini says he will only allow Rackete to dock when other EU states agree to immediately take the migrants once ashore, and even then Italian authorities would seize the ship and prosecute its captain for assisting people-smugglers.
On board the ship, sitting off Lampedusa, Rackete responded sharply when asked to comment on Salvini’s criticisms. Sea Watch spokesman Ruben Neugebauer said the group hoped Rackete would be allowed to dock later on Friday or Saturday and that it was a disgrace for Europe that it was taking so long.“We are really proud of our captain that doesn’t hesitate to even take personal consequences for doing exactly the right thing, for following the law of the sea and for bringing these people to safety,” Neugebauer told Reuters TV in Berlin.
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