An Italian coast guard vessel carrying migrants rescued at sea passes between tourist boats off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italy, September 18, 2023. Photo : Yara Nardi/REUTERS
The Italian government has banned charities from flying out of the southern islands, in what the groups say is an attempt to stop them helping migrants.
Rescue charities regularly carry out surveillance flights to spot those in distress boats with migrants crossing the border from the coast of Tunisia and Libya towards Italy.
But Italy's Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) has issued a decree saying planes will no longer be allowed to fly from Sicily and two tiny islands south of it: Pantelleria, a hunk of volcanic rock with several thousand inhabitants, and Lampedusa, which has hosted in recent years tens of thousands of migrants and refugees.< /p>
Authorities said the flights were “unjustified” and could interfere with official search and rescue efforts by the Italian coast guard and navy.
Organizations that do not comply with the new decree risk fines and the confiscation of their aircraft.< /p>
The authority falls under the Ministry of Transport, which is headed by Transport Minister and League party chief Matteo Salvini, who has campaigned for years to reduce the number of boats traveling to Italy.
Georgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, on Friday Photo: Remo Casilli/REUTERS
Humanitarian groups have accused the right-wing coalition led by Prime Minister Georgia Meloni of banning the flights to score political points in advance. European elections next month.
“The flight ban is politically motivated and legally untenable. In the midst of the European election campaign, Italy is trying to get rid of the last witnesses to European crimes in the Mediterranean. We will not be intimidated by this,” said Oliver Kulikowski of Sea Watch, one of the non-governmental organizations working to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean.
Seawatch accused the government of trying to “criminalize NGOs for political propaganda.”< /p>< p>Humanitarian groups say their planes are vital to locating boats and migrants in distress, and to documenting the sometimes brutal methods used by the Libyan coast guard to intercept the boats and push them back to the Libyan coast.
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Ms Meloni promised to sharply reduce the number of boats arriving on Italian soil when she was elected in October 2022, but more than 155,000 migrants arrived last year, a 50 per cent increase on the year before. With European elections approaching, taking new measures to stop the exodus from North Africa is key to its political fate.
James Cleverley, Home Secretary, inspects a sunken African crossing boat during a visit to Lampedusa to learn how the Guardia di Finanza police are fighting migration, April 24. Photo: Victoria Jones/PA Wire 
Southern tip of Sicily, near Africa Photo: BFC/Ascent Xmedia/Photodisc
The government has already made it difficult life to NGO rescue boats by decreeing that once they have rescued one boat full of migrants, they must immediately head to port rather than remain at sea in search of more rescues.
Authorities often designate ports in northern Italy. which can be reached within days, meaning NGO ships are being diverted from search and rescue efforts.
The government has reached an agreement with Albania to build two migrant detention centers in the north of the country and is working with Libya and Tunisia to block departures boats.
Meloni's coalition says its efforts are working: 17,000 migrants have reached Italy this year, compared with 45,000 by this time last year.
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