403 migrants rescued at sea allowed to enter Italy
The Italian government has allowed migrant rescue boats to dock with 403 migrants after days of waiting. Germany and France are taking in some of the migrants. A far-right party in Italy is opposed to the decision.
The Italian government has finally allowed a rescue ship carrying hundreds of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea to dock and disembark its passengers.
According to Reuters from Rome, this permission was granted today, January 28, after the agreement of European governments, which are trying to find solutions for the settlement and relocation of migrants rescued at sea.
The European Union is facing the challenge of migrants rescued at sea. The influx of these migrants by sea into European soil, and especially into Italy, is facing a fierce reaction from parties opposed to Italy's asylum policy.
Germany and France are set to take in some of the 403 rescued migrants, according to an Italian interior ministry official. Ireland and Luxembourg have also been asked to take in some of the migrants.
The 403 migrants whose fate was decided today were rescued by the Ocean Viking, a ship operated by the French NGO SOS Méditerranée.
Officials from the NGO said the rescued people, including 38 women and 149 minors, will be transferred to the city of Taranto in southern Italy.
Another 230 migrants are waiting on two rescue ships to be transferred to a safe port in Italy or Malta.
Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right Italian League party, who was the then Minister of the Interior in the Italian government in 2018, opposed this decision and condemned the acceptance of these migrants in Italy.
He called the 500 percent increase in immigration in January this year "madness" and wrote on Twitter: "Those who allow this to happen have their hands in the same bowl."
During his time as deputy prime minister in 2018, Mr. Salvini said he was considering “action against organizations that rescue migrants at sea.” He even accused these organizations of being complicit with human traffickers.
But Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamoreuse, unlike Salvini, who was once Italy's interior minister, has better relations with her European partners as well as with migrant relief and rescue charities.
The Italian Interior Ministry said that, excluding the number of migrants rescued by the Ocean Viking, nearly 870 migrants arrived in Italy by sea in January this year, compared to around 155 in 2019.
In recent weeks, as the conflict in Libya has intensified, the rate of migration of people from the country has increased.
In September 2019, interior ministers from five EU member states agreed on a new plan aimed at distributing migrants rescued at sea, saying they would try to put less pressure on southern European countries, including Italy.
According to a report last year by the Italian Interior Ministry, other EU member states offered to accept around 80 percent of the migrants “eligible for relocation.”
Source: DW
