Given the bad weather conditions, the Italian government has allowed three rescue ships with a total of more than 500 migrants on board to land in southern Italy. The rescue ship Humanity 1, operated by the German NGO Sea Watch 4, was assigned to the southern Italian port of Bari on Friday evening to take on board 261 refugees, authorities said.
The rescue ship “Geo Barents” of “Doctors Without Borders” with 248 people on board is allowed to land in the port of Salerno. The ship is expected in Salerno on Saturday. Before that, the German rescue ship “Louise Michel” landed on the Italian Mediterranean island of Lampedusa on Thursday evening with 33 migrants on board. According to the migrants, the group left Sabratha in Libya for Italy on Tuesday.
Tensions between Italy and France
Since taking office in October, the Italian government led by far-right politician Giorgia Meloni has repeatedly refused to land rescue ships carrying migrants to safety in the Mediterranean. That is why tensions with France had recently arisen.
The French government denied on Thursday that tensions with Italy had been resolved. Italy is obliged to take in the refugees because its ports are closest to the rescue site, the foreign ministry in Paris said, according to Italian media. Since the beginning of the year, 97,000 migrants have arrived in Italy after sea journeys across the Mediterranean.
Source: Krone
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