Italy on Sunday docked two rescue ships in its ports, carrying a total of more than 500 migrants who had been picked up at sea by rescue organizations. This is reported by international news agencies. On Friday, the country already gave another ship with 33 migrants on board permission to dock in Sicily. Last month, the rescue ship Ocean Viking was denied permission to moor, the ship diverted to France.
In Salerno, near Naples, 248 migrants arrived on the Geo Barents, a ship belonging to the French branch of Doctors Without Borders. A family was already evacuated from that boat on Thursday, the mother of which had a baby on board on Wednesday. The German rescue ship Humanity 1, with 261 migrants on board, was given permission to dock in Bari. On Friday, 33 migrants went ashore in Sicily.
Since the new government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took office in October, Italy’s policy on rescue ships carrying migrants has been tightened. Last month, the Italian government refused to allow the ship Ocean Viking to dock. The boat had to divert to the southern French city of Toulon. France then withdrew from an earlier agreement to transfer three thousand migrants from Italy to France. According to the rescue organizations, Italy’s refusal to allow the ship to dock was against international law. The French economy minister also emphasized on Thursday that “the European rule is that the boat must dock in the nearest port, which is an Italian port”.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said on Sunday that the mooring of the two rescue vessels does not mean that Italy is relaxing its strict migration policy. “It was our duty to save the lives of these migrants because of the bad weather at sea.” The ships had to deal with strong winds and high waves in the Mediterranean Sea.
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