The Foreign Ministry confirmed this morning that three Italian nationals arrested in Libya on 25 May while driving humanitarian aid toward Gaza have been freed and are now in Tunisia awaiting repatriation. The activists—Domenico Centrone, Leonarda Alberizia and Uruguay-born Italian Matias Alvarez Rodriguez—were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla land convoy that aimed to deliver medical supplies to the besieged enclave. Their release follows intense consular negotiations led by Deputy Foreign Minister Edmondo Cirielli and facilitated by the Tunisian authorities. Six other foreign volunteers remain in Libyan custody but are expected to be freed within the next 24 hours, according to the convoy organisers. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed the development, calling the detention “an unacceptable violation of international humanitarian principles” and thanking Tunis for its mediation. The incident has highlighted the growing complexity of humanitarian mobility in the Mediterranean, where aid workers increasingly traverse multiple jurisdictions, each with its own visa and security requirements. Companies that run corporate-social-responsibility missions—or send staff to high-risk zones—are reminded to maintain up-to-date travel-risk insurance and to verify exit permits and land-border clearances when routing through Libya. For Italy, the diplomatic episode may bolster Rome’s argument in EU councils that migrant-source and transit countries must be drawn into wider mobility pacts that also cover humanitarian corridors and safe-passage guarantees. Observers note that the new Italian security decree’s provisions on cooperation with “third safe countries” could become a template for future aid-mobility arrangements. Repatriation flights for the freed activists are expected to arrive in Rome tomorrow morning, where they will undergo medical checks before meeting foreign-ministry officials.
Source: The New Arab
