Migrant rescues are managed by the State, not by NGOs, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Tuesday.
"It is the State that fights human traffickers and manages and coordinates rescues at sea.
Not the NGOs," Piantedosi wrote on X, posting a photo of the Mediterranea ship and the news of the vessel's detention for disobeying the Interior Ministry's orders, disembarking its rescued migrants in the port of Trapani instead of Genoa, the safe port indicated by the ministry.
Migrant rescue NGOs say the government's sending them to ports far from their operational areas hiders their efforts.
