In a ruling that sparked widespread political debate, a court in Sicily has forced the Italian government to pay compensation to a migrant rescue group after its boat was seized in 2019. The ruling brought immigration back to the forefront and sparked the anger of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
A court in Palermo ruled that the seizure of the vessel amounted to an “unreasonable blockade” and awarded the German Maritime Surveillance Agency 76,000 euros. In June 2019, the Sea Watch 3 ship was stranded at sea with dozens of migrants on board for two weeks before it entered Lampedusa, defying a government decision to bar it from entering the port.
The incident, which made international headlines at the time, dates back to the moment the ship collided with a police boat while in port and was subsequently detained for five full months. The ship’s captain, Carola Luckett, was also arrested, but judicial authorities dropped the case against her in 2021.
According to Italian news agency ANSA, the Sicilian authorities as well as the Interior, Transport and Economy ministries are also obliged to cover the organization’s legal costs.
The ruling sparked a political reaction, with Meloni expressing his “surprise” at the decision in a video message, even though he was not in power at the time of the incident. But the right-wing government has since tightened restrictions on rescue ships in the Mediterranean and is currently preparing legislation that would allow it to impose a “maritime blockade” to prevent migrant boats from entering Italian waters.
Sea Watch thought that “the law has once again sided with civil disobedience”, but observers believe the ruling could set a legal precedent against extremist policies against rescue groups in one of Europe’s most sensitive and complex cases.
