03 August, 2017
The number of migrant arrivals in Italy in July was down dramatically on the same month previous year, suggesting that efforts to train and better equip the Libyan coast guard could be having an impact.
An Italian judge on Wednesday ordered seizure of a migrant rescue ship chartered by German NGO Jugend Rettet which they accuse of abetting illegal immigration.
The twin moves came as figures revealed a surprise drop in July in the number of refugees and migrants arriving at southern Italian ports.
A police statement said: 'Enquiries begun in October 2016, and conducted with the use of sophisticated techniques and investigative technology, have produced circumstantial evidence of the motorboat Iuventa being used for activities facilitating illegal immigration'.
Looking to turn the screws on the traffickers, Italy's parliament authorised on Wednesday a limited naval mission to help Libya's coastguard curb migrant flows.
Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti said Italy was providing technical support, not seeking to impose a "hostile" naval blockade created to prevent the departure of migrant boats.
Italy announced the operation last week, saying it had been requested by Libya's UN-backed government.
The number of migrant arrivals in Italy in July was down dramatically on the same month previous year, suggesting efforts to train and better equip the Libyan coastguard could already be having an impact.
Jugend Rettet says on its website it started patrolling the Mediterranean in July 2016 and has rescued 6,526 people in its first year of action.
More details were to be provided at a 1530 GMT press conference.
Some 2,230 migrants, majority from Africa fleeing poverty and violence at home, died in the first seven months of 2017 trying to make the sea crossing.
Officials believe boats being sent back to Libyan ports will help deter people from paying traffickers for passage to Europe.
Global rights groups have criticised Italy's moves saying people returned to troubled Libya face detention in squalid camps and abuse at the hands of traffickers.
Titus Molkenbur, a spokesperson for Jugend Rettet, sad on Monday that the privately-funded aid organisation "we would only sign if the new rules made our work more efficient and increased the security of our volunteers".
Jugend Rettet is one of several NGOs conducting migrant rescues in the Mediterranean which refused to sign a new code of conduct at the Italian interior ministry earlier this week.
In response to Parliament's decision, Amnesty International's deputy Europe director, Gauri Van Gulik, said: 'The Italian authorities have shown today that they consider it more important to keep refugees and migrants away from their shores than to protect their lives and welfare.
One was the obligation for rescue vessels to operate with an Italian police official on board, and the other was the ban on moving rescued migrants from one aid vessel to another at sea, which complicated missions.
