The Italian authorities have finally come out of their silence. After having sailed for a while towards Marseille, the humanitarian ship Alan Kurdi, with 125 surviving migrants on board, was able to dock Thursday, September 24 in the Italian port of Arbatax in Sardinia.
« L’Alan Kurdi (…) Has been instructed by the port authorities to drop anchor and wait for further instructions ”, indicates a press release from the NGO Sea-Eye which charters the boat. In the middle of the day, the Italian Ministry of the Interior issued a statement indicating that it had authorized the ship to disembark the people on board. “80% of rescued migrants will be transferred to other European countries”, specifies the press release.
50 minors on board the boat
Italy thus finally contacted Sea-Eye after several calls from the German NGO to command posts went unanswered. “The Italian authorities joined us at midnight on Wednesday to discuss further coordination and to offer the boat protection against bad weather at Arbatax after five days (!)”, indicates the NGO on Twitter.
🟠 The #AlanKurdi will reach the port of Arbatax in Sardinia in a few hours. The Italian authorities contacted us on Tuesday midnight to discuss the “further coordination” after 5 days (!) And to offer the ship shelter in Arbatax. pic.twitter.com/zrHblEeOUg
— sea-eye (@seaeyeorg) September 24, 2020
France had asked Italy on Wednesday to allow theAlan Kurdi who rescued 133 people on Saturday in the Mediterranean near the Libyan coast, while en route to the French port of Marseille for lack of being able to land on the Italian coast. French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal had indicated that the Sea-Eye boat had to “To be met at the nearest safe port”, France thus implicitly declining any possibility of letting the ship dock in Marseille.
→ to read. Germany to welcome 1,553 migrants from Greek islands
Eight people, including a five-month-old baby, had however been evacuated by the Italian coast guard. More than 50 minors were still aboard the boat, many of whom are unaccompanied youth, according to Sea-Eye.
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