The actor Richard Gere has spoken about Italy's handling of immigration and his initiative to help the migrant rescue ship Open Arms.
"Italy has carried a heavy burden" in dealing with immigration, said the US actor Richard Gere in an interview on the Italian TV channel Rai 3 last week. "This is a responsibility of the whole world," he went on to say in the interview, which was broadcast on January 12.
"I am referring to a worldwide phenomenon, not to an Italian problem: the European Union, UN, must be involved, we have to create resources and structures to deal with migration."
"There will always be refugees, people who are fleeing folly and torture. We have to take responsibility - especially wealthier countries," Gere said.
"I think the Italians did a great job in hosting. You are obviously very close to Libya and refugees tend to arrive here, in Malta or Spain."
'Law stopping aid at sea cruel, my written testimony refused'
Gere said he had heard about "a cruel law", referring to a security decree targeting charities which operate migrant rescue vessels. Then deputy premier and interior minister Matteo Salvini drew up the measure. He is currently on trial in Palermo on charges including kidnapping for refusing to let the 160 migrants on board the Spanish NGO ship Open Arms disembark.
"I had heard about a ship that couldn't reach Lampedusa," Gere explained.
"I was visiting friends in Italy and something attracted my attention - the legislation that made it a crime to help people. It was unbelievable, especially for a wonderful country like Italy and for a wonderful population," he said.
The star spoke about a visit he carried out in August 2019 to the Open Arms to express solidarity with rescued migrants stranded off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. He said he had previously met with activists from the Spanish NGO and had been moved "by their work in the Mediterranean" and their rescue operations off Greece.
I really wondered in the case of the Open Arms whether authorities saw those people as brothers and sisters
"I therefore decided to leave my friends' house and go to Lampedusa to bring water, food and primary goods," he explained.
Speaking about the trial of Salvini, who now serves as transport minister and deputy premier in Giorgia Meloni's government, Gere said he had offered written testimony on the case "but it was not accepted."
'Difficult to reach Open Arms where people forced to stay on deck'
"I really wondered in the case of the Open Arms whether authorities saw those people as brothers and sisters," Gere said during the interview.
"The ship was in international waters and we had a hard time finding a boat that could take us there, together with the aid. A boat operator told us that he had received a visit the night before from the police and told us he couldn't help us any longer," he continued. "We had to find another vessel", he said. "Very kindly and courageously [the vessel's skipper] took us to the Open Arms."
Gere noted that the migrants on board, who hailed from Libya, "hoped to find safety. We are talking about safety, not about economic migration. These people risk their lives. They are exposed to physical and mental torture, especially women who are turned into sex slaves.
"When I boarded the Open Arms, I realized how serious the situation was. People were staying in tents on the deck. I saw about 124 people on board who were practically forced to stay outdoors."
The actor also said he met volunteers from all over the world who were distributing medicines, food and water: "There were doctors and experts who were providing psychological assistance to people who were not only traumatized by the shipwreck, but also by the weeks and months that were necessary to reach the shores of the Mediterranean. They had experienced hell in Libya ...before ...finally boarding a rickety boat and being rescued by the Open Arms," he recalled during the program.