ROME, Aug 7 (Reuters) – Italy on Wednesday allowed 102 migrants who were stranded on a tanker in the Mediterranean to disembark on the Sicilian coast after Malta refused them entry for three days despite European Union calls for it to help on humanitarian grounds.
The migrants, mainly from north Africa, were rescued from a boat 24 miles (39 km) off the Libyan coast on Sunday by the Liberian-registered tanker Salamis. The tanker then headed for Malta but was refused entry to Maltese water by the government.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat resisted calls from EU authorities to let the migrants in, saying they were not in distress. He said the ship’s captain had ignored orders by rescue authorities to send the ship back to Libya.
Muscat thanked Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta for the decision to take in the migrants, who included four pregnant women, an injured woman and a baby, saying it would “further reinforce good relations between the two countries.”
The tanker arrived in Syracuse in Sicily at around midday on Wednesday. The migrants will be transferred to a reception centre after undergoing health and police checks.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom welcomed Italy’s move but added on Twitter that it “would be great if all 28 EU members would help.”
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR also praised what it called “a humanitarian gesture of great value”.
Not everyone agreed however, with the deputy secretary of Italy’s anti-immigrant Northern League party Matteo Salvini saying that Italy looked ridiculous.
“This government has proved it is more attentive and more hospitable to illegal immigrants than to Italians,” Salvini said in a statement.
North Africa is a launch-point for migration to southern Europe, with Italy a main destination. Thousands of people have been killed attempting the dangerous crossing in overcrowded and frequently unsafe boats.
The UNHCR estimates that more than 7,800 migrants reached the Italian coast in the first six months of this year.
Nearby Malta has also faced a record influx of African migrants recently, with about 1,000 arriving in the past month.
Last month the Italian coastguard coordinated the rescue of 22 migrants after their boat sank off the coast of Libya, but 31 others were feared drowned following the incident, including a baby and four pregnant women, according to the UNHCR.
Pope Francis visited the tiny Sicilian island of Lampedusa in July, where tens of thousands of migrants arrived during the Arab Spring unrest in North Africa in 2011. He held a Mass there to commemorate the people who have died when making such journeys. (Reporting by Catherine Hornby, additional reporting by Chris Scicluna in Valletta, Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
By Julian Lee (Bloomberg) Moscow’s use of the tankers sanctioned for their involvement in the Russian oil trade is accelerating, with close to one-third of the blacklisted vessels back at work....
By Gautam Naik (Bloomberg) After fearing the worst from Hurricane Milton, investors in catastrophe bonds appear to have sustained losses well below those predicted as recently as Wednesday. Estimates that had...
Oct 8 (Reuters) – Former Amazon.com Consumer CEO Dave Clark said on Tuesday his new software supply chain management startup Auger has raised over $100 million in private equity funding from Oak HC/FT and...
October 8, 2024
Total Views: 1007
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.