Captain facing jail time for saving migrants calls Paris bravery medal hypocritical, refuses award

A German captain who has saved hundreds of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea is refusing a medal from Paris, bashing the city's government for its treatment of migrants.

Pia Klemp and fellow captain Carola Rakete were awarded one of France's highest honors, the Grand Vermeil Medal, for their continued rescue efforts of migrants and asylum seekers, defying Italian officials who accuse them of aiding illegal immigration, Reuters reported.

In a statement on Facebook Tuesday, Klemp called the award hypocritical. 

"We do not need medals. We do not need authorities deciding about who is a 'hero' and who is 'illegal'. In fact they are in no position to make this call, because we are all equal," she wrote.

Klemp, who works with the nongovernmental rescue organization Sea-Watch accused Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo of mistreatment of migrants, writing, "your police is stealing blankets from people that you force to live on the streets, while you raid protests and criminalize people that are standing up for rights of migrants and asylum seekers."

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"It is time we call out hypocrite honorings and fill the void with social justice," she added.

Hidalgo's office told Reuters that it was getting in contact with Klemp.

"The City of Paris is fully mobilized to support the refugees, to shelter them and ensure a dignified respect for their humanity," the office told Reuters.

According to NPR, Klemp and some of her shipmates have been under investigation by the Italian government since 2017, as they have worked for years to save people fleeing Libya for Europe. Italian officials had impounded her ship, the Iuventa, too.

The broadcaster reported that Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini had banned nongovernmental groups like Sea-Watch from bringing rescued asylum seekers to Italian ports. 

Klemp and Rakete have defied the ban, and Klemp faces up to 20 years in jail in Italy, Reuters reported. Thousands have signed a petition for Italy to drop the charges against her. The activist has vowed to fight the case in court, DW News reported.

Salvini bashed the Paris awards when they were announced, the news agency reported, saying, "Obviously the municipality of Paris has nothing better to do."

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