The German government has provided funding to three humanitarian organizations providing aid for migrants in Italy, including two sea rescue groups, a spokeswoman for the German Foreign Office confirmed to dpa on Wednesday.
A total of €2 million ($2.09 million) in German government funding is available in the current year through the Foreign Office for groups providing care for migrants making the boat journey across the Mediterranean to Italy.
The first payments were to go to a project of the Christian community Sant'Egidio for the care of rescued persons on shore, as well as further grants to the sea rescue organizations SOS Humanity and Sea-Eye, the spokeswoman said.
She added that the grants to the three groups are between €300,000 and €800,000 each.
Germany's financial support for migrant rescue groups has been met with anger from Italy's far-right government, which has sought to crack down on migration and accuses Berlin of interfering in domestic Italian affairs, especially as the funding also covers aid for migrants on Italian soil.
The payments to the humanitarian groups also strained European Union negotiations over reforms to the European asylum system, although a breakthrough on a key element was achieved on Wednesday.
The German government's position is that rescuing people in distress at sea and saving lives from drowning at any time and in any place is "a legal humanitarian and moral duty," the Foreign Office spokeswoman said.
She also stressed that Germany's parliament mandated the funding in a resolution.
