Stranded migrants disembark in Italy as one ship heads to France

BY| Aljazeera

Nearly 250 people have been allowed to disembark after being shunned by Italy’s government as ‘residual cargo’.

The remaining passengers on two humanitarian ships that Italy had initially refused to take in have been allowed to disembark, as another vessel carrying 234 people headed to France in the hope of a safe port.

The Ocean Viking, operated by the European organisation SOS Mediterranee, left Sicily for the French island of Corsica on Tuesday.
It was not yet clear if the ship would be allowed to dock by the French government, which had previously called on Italy to grant a safe port to the refugees and migrants.

The organisation told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that it had sent nine “place of safety” requests but had not yet received any response.

The Ocean Viking has been at sea for more than two weeks since its first rescue in the Central Mediterranean.

The new hard-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last week remained silent to repeated requests by rescue groups to provide safe harbour, effectively blocking at sea the Norwegian flag-bearing Ocean Viking and Geo Barents and the German-flagged Humanity 1.

Rome sent letters to the embassies of Norway and Germany, saying NGO ships flying their flags were not following European security rules and were undermining what it described as the fight against undocumented immigration.

On Sunday, Italian authorities allowed only selected refugees and migrants deemed “vulnerable” to disembark from the Geo Barents and Humanity 1, intending to send the nearly 250 remaining people back to sea.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi drew outrage on Monday after he referred to those singled out by the authorities over the weekend as “residual cargo” who do not need to be rescued.

In an apparent U-turn, all passengers were allowed to disembark late on Tuesday.