2024-01-20 20:14:30
The NGO ship “Humanity 1” is heading towards southern Italy with 126 migrants rescued in the central Mediterranean. The ship was originally assigned to the central Italian Adriatic port of Ortona. However, due to the difficult weather conditions, the crew asked to land in southern Italy on Saturday, Italian media reported.
The migrants were aboard an overcrowded double-decker wooden boat 100 miles off the Libyan coast in Maltese waters when they were rescued by the crew of Humanity 1. There were also nine women and around 30 minors on board. “Many of the survivors who are now receiving emergency care on board by the crew of Humanity 1 are suffering from dehydration, hypothermia and exhaustion and are very weak,” said the German non-governmental organization “SOS Humanity”.
The Spanish NGO ship “Open Arms” landed in the southern Italian port of Crotone in the Calabria region with 57 migrants on board, including five minors. The ship was originally supposed to reach the southern Italian Adriatic port of Brindisi, which was originally intended as a port of call. Because of the poor weather and sea conditions, the ship was assigned Crotone as its landing port.
The disembarked migrants are mainly Syrians and, to a lesser extent, Pakistanis, Bengalis and an Egyptian. Landing was difficult due to rough seas and strong north winds. After the identification measures were completed, the migrants were taken to the reception center in Isola Capo Rizzuto.
167 people have now landed in Lampedusa on board four boats. The boats had departed from Tunisia and Libya. There were people on board from Egypt, Pakistan, Syria, Guinea, Cameroon, Sudan, Tunisia and Morocco, as Italian media reported.
The Interior Ministry in Rome said 916 migrants have arrived in Italy since the beginning of 2024 after sea journeys across the Mediterranean. In the comparable period of 2023 there were 3,862. Over 150,000 migrants arrived in Italy in 2023 as a whole. The right-wing government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is trying to curb migration movements thanks to agreements with the migrants’ countries of origin, including Tunisia and Egypt.
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