“They were shooting at us and when I no longer saw any heads in the water I decided to go back.” Danny Castiglione is 32 years old, comes from Mogliano Veneto (Treviso) and works as a computer scientist. Use permits and holidays to work as a volunteer for Mediterranea Saving Humans. He is the head of mission of the NGO which, last week, in international waters rescued a damaged boat with over fifty migrants on board. His story is told from the Port of Pozzallo where he reported 58 people.
«On Thursday afternoon around 12 we received a myday and around 2pm the operations center had also opened a report to Rome and Malta: there was double confirmation of a vehicle breaking down, and since we were a few nautical miles away we decided to go and see. Around 4.15pm we spotted a stationary vessel full of people through binoculars in international waters, in a position close to the Maltese and Italian coasts”
While we were distributing life jackets, a Libyan patrol boat arrived and threatened us to leave. We responded by explaining that we were carrying out a rescue in international waters. They approached with weapons visible: People on the damaged ship began to jump into the sea in panic. At that point I sent a second lifeboat down because there was too much commotion. A militiaman aimed a machine gun 30 cm from the tube of the dinghy and this created even more agitation. Inside the Libyan patrol boat there were another 100 people, kneeling and whipped. Some of them in desperation rushed to get help. Others were thrown into the water from the patrol boat. We did everything we could, but we don't know if we rescued everyone. We we withdrew the dinghies after two more bursts of machine gun fire».
Castiglione explains why this episode will make history. «It's the first time they've shot at us, but it's never happened in SAR operations. After what we saw, I find it difficult to call that Libyan coast guard. They are torturers, they don't carry out rescue operations. We now ask for clarity from the Italian Government.”
Danny Castiglione has been active in Mediterranea since 2018. «Since 2022 I have been embarked on all Mediterranea missions. At the beginning I was a rescuer driving the dinghy, since October 2023 I have been the head of mission on board, I take care of the choices and routes and the political discussion.
As a boy, I was introduced to cooperation projects in the north-east of Syria and Iraq with the Mogliano Officina 31021 association: an experience that had stirred something inside me. This is not a war mission, but today the central Mediterranean reaps deaths like a war. It seemed right to me to answer: present».
Source: Vanity Fair
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