EU Top Court Restricts Migrant National Maritime Authorities From Checking Migrant Rescue Ships
The Court said that just because the national maritime authorities suspect that the ships might be overloaded by migrants plucked from the sea, they do not have the right to impound those ships, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
According to AP News, the ruling of the EU Court of Justice is a response to an appeal by Sea-Watch, which is a German migrant aid group. Two ships of the German group were forcefully inspected in Sicily back in 2020 after they disembarked migrants.
The ships were inspected as they took more people in than they were authorised to carry. In addition, the Italian port authorities claimed that they did the inspection as the ships were not certified to carry out such activities related to migrant rescuing.
Nonetheless, AP explains that the Court said that the rescued people at sea must not be taken into account when the authorities are verifying if the sea safety rules have been complied with.
“The number of persons on board, even if greater than that which is authorized, cannot, therefore, in itself, constitute a ground for a control,” the Court stated.
The same source notes that the Court also said that national port authorities could inspect ships to assess whether working conditions, health and safety, as well as environmental rules are being respected. Still, it emphasised that the national port authorities do not have the power the require proof that the rescue ships hold certificates other than the ones issued by the flag state.
Commenting on the Court’s decision, Sea-Watch said that the decision is a victory and means that national port authorities cannot prevent them from doing their work, AP notes.
“In the future, ships will thus continue to do what they do best: Rescue people instead of being arbitrarily stuck in port,” Sea-Watch wrote on its official Twitter account.
The number of migrants trying to reach the European Union countries has increased significantly this year. Thus, since the number of migrants reaching the EU illegally and those applying for asylum has increased, the EU is planning to make screening of migrants and asylum seekers mandatory.
The Council of the European Union has just recently approved negotiations regarding new rules that allow access to a register of each person that arrives in the EU. The new rules aim to introduce checks through several databases.
