ROME

The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, urged Italy on Thursday to guarantee the rescue of migrants in distress at sea. 

In a report written following her visit to Rome in June, Mijatovic highlighted the council’s concern regarding the need for Italy to uphold its commitment to humanitarian efforts in the Mediterranean, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

"Italy should ensure that sufficient and adequate search and rescue capacity can be deployed to provide timely and effective assistance to people, including to refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, in distress at sea," it said.

The report specifically called for the repeal of laws hindering rescue operations conducted by civil society organizations (CSOs) in the southern Mediterranean. Additionally, it underscored the importance of treating CSOs as entities engaged in humanitarian work rather than criminalizing their efforts.

A warning in the report focused on an agreement signed between Italy and Albania on Nov. 6 permitting Italy to establish two migrant centers on Albanian territory. Mijatovic expressed concern that the agreement does not provide adequate guarantees concerning human rights.

In February, Mijatovic urged Italy's right-wing coalition government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to withdraw a regulation introduced in January. The regulation aimed to restrict the rescue operations of NGO-operated vessels involved in saving irregular migrants in the Mediterranean.

The coalition government, which assumed power in October 2022, implemented regulations designed to limit irregular migrant arrivals and the activities of NGOs engaged in migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean.

According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, a total of 153,407 irregular migrants arrived in the country by sea from Jan.1 to Dec. 14 this year.

In 2022, approximately 104,000 irregular migrants reached Italy by sea.