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Italy orders seizure of migrant rescue ship over 'HIV-contaminated' clothes
Source: The Guardian
Italy orders seizure of migrant rescue ship over 'HIV-contaminated' clothes
Prosecutors allege garments on Aquarius should have been labelled as ‘toxic waste’
Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo
Tue 20 Nov 2018 12.59 GMT
Italian authorities have ordered the seizure of the migrant rescue ship Aquarius after claiming that discarded clothes worn by the migrants on their voyage from Libya to Italy could have been contaminated by HIV, meningitis and tuberculosis.
Prosecutors from Catania, eastern Sicily, alleged that the waste was illegally labelled by the ship’s crew as “special waste” rather than “toxic waste”.
The Aquarius is currently docked in Marseilles, France, where so far it is beyond the reach of the Italian authorities.
The ship is operated by the charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and SOS Méditerranée. Prosecutors in Catania said: “If Aquarius would disembark to Italy, it will be immediately put under seizure.”
-snip-
The Aquarius has been stuck in Marseilles since the Panamanian authorities revoked its flag, after “complaints by the Italian authorities”. But the ship seemed to have reached an agreement with a country that would offer the NGO its flag and was ready to leave the French port in few days to reach the waters of Libya.
-snip-
Prosecutors allege garments on Aquarius should have been labelled as ‘toxic waste’
Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo
Tue 20 Nov 2018 12.59 GMT
Italian authorities have ordered the seizure of the migrant rescue ship Aquarius after claiming that discarded clothes worn by the migrants on their voyage from Libya to Italy could have been contaminated by HIV, meningitis and tuberculosis.
Prosecutors from Catania, eastern Sicily, alleged that the waste was illegally labelled by the ship’s crew as “special waste” rather than “toxic waste”.
The Aquarius is currently docked in Marseilles, France, where so far it is beyond the reach of the Italian authorities.
The ship is operated by the charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and SOS Méditerranée. Prosecutors in Catania said: “If Aquarius would disembark to Italy, it will be immediately put under seizure.”
-snip-
The Aquarius has been stuck in Marseilles since the Panamanian authorities revoked its flag, after “complaints by the Italian authorities”. But the ship seemed to have reached an agreement with a country that would offer the NGO its flag and was ready to leave the French port in few days to reach the waters of Libya.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/20/italy-orders-seizure-aquarius-migrant-rescue-ship-hiv-clothes
