http://dx.doi.org/10.17176/20200414-152958-0 https://staging.verfassungsblog.de/not-a-safe-place/ Not a Safe Place? Keller, Vera Magali Schöler, Florian Goldoni, Marco eng 2020-04-14 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Coronavirus European Union International Maritime Law Seenotrettung Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 In an unprecedented move, the Italian government has declared Italy’s ports “unsafe” due to the COVID-19-pandemic. It did so by issuing an executive decree late Tuesday last week, seemingly in response to the rescue of 150 shipwrecked by the Sea-Eye’s Alan Kurdi. This is not the first time that the Italian government has used decrees to close its borders for sea-rescue ships. However, given the extraordinary circumstances of this case in the midst of the on-going Corona-crisis and the novel argument made by the Italian government, the decision warrants closer examination.