Italy and allocated a port to two humanitarian aid ships. 509 immigrants rthey have sailed in the central Mediterranean for the last few days, but before they can land, they will have to go to the places indicated this Saturday for hours and in bad weather.
this two ships, Doctors Without Borders’ Geo BarentsHumanity 1 of the German organization SOS Humanity, with 248 migrants on board, capable of docking at the port of Salerno south of Naples (south), and the other 261 expected in Bari (south).
Both rescue ships were off the island of Sicily (south) this Friday, but Italian authorities agreed to meet them at two ports on the peninsula, forcing them to travel hundreds of miles and hours.
Geo Barents, where a woman gave birth a few days ago and had to be evacuated, it is already making its way to the port of Salerno in “terrible sea conditions”, according to sources from the organization, and plans to arrive early tomorrow Sunday.
Humanity 1 has turned its course to BariHis destination after traversing the entire southern Italian peninsula, about 300 nautical miles (approximately 555 kilometers).
The captain asked the country’s authorities a closer port will be assignedIt was not successful as a storm was expected during the route and now, according to the information provided by the sources on the ship to EFE, it is on its way to this city in Apulia.
According to public television RAI, the decision not to allow migrants to land in Sicily responds to a desire to drain the network of reception centers on the island.
Again, this time, two humanitarian ships quickly obtained permission to dock and disembark the survivors. One month after the blockade of the port of Catania (south) by the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni.
The executive accuses these organizations of encouraging the flow of immigration from North Africa and blames their European Union (EU) partners for not jointly managing this phenomenon to disperse asylum seekers.
Solidarity mechanism
Therefore, at the beginning of November, Matteo Salvini, Meloni’s vice president, first blocked the docking of Geo Barents and Humanity 1 and then mandated selective landings. it only allows “vulnerable” migrants to land.
Eventually, Italy agreed to disembark all evacuees in Catania, but sparked a crisis with Paris as a Norwegian-flagged ship chartered by the French NGO SOS Méditerránée had to sail to the French port of Toulon (south) with 230 migrants.
Just two weeks later, the European Commission presented an action plan to strengthen the solidarity mechanism agreed to help EU countries that receive more irregular migrants.
Now, the quick allocation of ports to these two ships, A marked change of position in the Meloni Government.
This Friday afternoon, Germany’s Ambassador to Rome, Viktor Elbling, announced that his country is taking care of the first 164 asylum seekers arriving in Italy.
“Solidarity works. Germany welcomed the largest number of immigrants from Italy through the agreed solidarity mechanism. It’s not about numbers, it’s about lives. We are working closely with Italy on this.”
This week, Meloni attended a summit between the EU and the Western Balkans in Tirana, where he celebrated the “first” migration issue a “priority” for Brussels.