Migrants stand on deck of NGO rescue ship 'Ocean Viking', in the Mediterranean Sea, on November 8, 2022. Camille Martin Juan/Sos Mediterranee/Handout via REUTERS
Brussels: The European Commission Wednesday waded into a dispute over 234 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean and stuck aboard a ship after Italy refused to accept them, urging their "immediate disembarkation".
The Ocean Viking, a vessel operated by the European charity SOS Mediterranee under a Norwegian flag, has been forced to sail away from Sicilian waters towards France after Italy refused to let her dock.
Italian leaders have claimed that France is ready to accept the migrants, but Paris has warned that the ship is in Italian waters and branded the refusal to let her dock "unacceptable".
Immigration decisions are ultimately a matter for each EU member state, but the European Union tries to coordinate policy in the bloc.
"The legal obligation to rescue and to ensure the safety of life at sea is clear and unequivocal, irrespective of the circumstances that lead people to be in a situation of distress," the European Commission, the EU's executive, said in a statement.
The statement did not call out France, Italy or Rome's new far-right premier Georgia Meloni by name, but made it clear that governments have a legal obligation to help sea travellers in distress.
"The European Commission calls for the immediate disembarkation, at the nearest place of safety, of all persons rescued and who are on board the Ocean Viking," the statement said.
"The situation onboard the vessel has reached a critical level and needs to be urgently addressed to avoid a humanitarian tragedy," it warned.
