Carola Rackete is a German woman and the Captain of a ship that rescued more than 4o migrants off the coast of Libya and brought them to the Italian Coast. This gesture of Carola Rackete may seem like an act of bravery or that portraying humanitarian duty but in reality it has landed her in deep political trouble.
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In fact through her action she has successfully challenged Italy’s closed-port policy. While she is not the only captain who has challenged the Italian government as far as rescuing migrants is concerned, her case however is in limelight because she has confessed that she will be doing this for the sake of humanity again and again irrespective of the consequences it may have.
It was in the beginning of 2017, that the Italian government had decided to protest against the perpetual arrival of migrants on its port after they had been rescued. They said that as a nation it would not be possible for them to continue like this any further because they lacked support from the rest of the European Union’s 27 member states. Therefore a deal was signed with the coastguard of Libya in which the European Union would be required to fund the search for and the return of those found in the Mediterranean to Libya.
Carola’s brave and timely decision to help out the migrants by putting her own life at risk is an example of how every captain must place other human beings before themselves. She is a captain who had decided to break through the wall of the European fortress that was intended to stop migrants from entering. This humanitarian act that she engaged in may have won her the media’s attention but has successfully landed her in deep political trouble as far as the state is concerned.
As a trained captain and an experienced hand at the sea, Carola was indeed aware about what her decision could lead to but despite knowing the legal consequences she decided to save the lives on her ship and bring them to the closest safe harbour.
Last week Rackete had been temporarily put under house arrest for having violated the Italian naval blockade that had been put in place only to stop her from bringing the group of migrants that had been rescued from the Libyan coast to the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.
Rackete said that as a captain it was her duty to rescue the people on her ship and land them at the safest harbour. She tried communicating with the Italian authorities about the deteriorating condition of the people on board and how many of them had even begun suffering from psychological issues due to the torture that they had undergone in Libya. Their continuous refusal made things impossible and frustrating and so finally she decided to break the coast rules and challenge Italy’s closed door policy towards migrants. She decided to bring her ship into the Italian waters knowing that this would place here in legal jeopardy.
Rackete is a captain who knows that it is the sea that she belongs to and wants to resume her work soon enough. She is German and works with a German NGO Sea- Watch. She says that since she doesn’t have the desire to purchase a house or a car and doesn’t care about making a lot of money and because she doesn’t have any family of her- making such a commitment came naturally to her as there was nothing to hold her back. And she says that if she were to find herself in the same situation again, she would not hesitate in following her heart once more.
