SYRACUSE: A rescue ship docked in Sicily following authorisation from Italian authorities and 89 migrants aboard were waiting to disembark, the German group chartering the vessel said on Tuesday.
Italy has been under fire for allowing only the most vulnerable to leave charity rescue ships at its ports.
Over the weekend, some 500 migrants left two ships docked in Sicily but around 250 others were denied permission under orders of the country's new hard-right government.
NGOs said the move to select who could disembark was illegal and warned of desperate conditions onboard the two ships, which remain in the port of Catania.
Ships chartered by non-government organisations regularly pick up migrants from leaky, overcrowded boats seeking to cross from North Africa to Europe.
On Tuesday, the Rise Above, chartered by German group Lifeline, docked at the port of Reggio Calabria.
“The ordeal of the 89 survivors and nine crew seems to be over,“ Lifeline wrote on Twitter.
“The Rise Above has entered the port of Reggio Calabria. We hope that all will go well and that everyone aboard will be able to disembark.”
Four people had been evacuated off the ship for medical reasons on Sunday.
In response to criticism over the selection of who could disembark from the ships, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said on Monday: “We are behaving with humanity but firmly based on our principles.”
Piantedosi said he was working at a national and European Union level to resolve the issue, after years of complaints from Rome that the EU was not doing enough.
Italy's new government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party, has vowed to stop the tens of thousands of migrants who arrive on the country's shores each year. - AFP
