These are women, men and children, who were rescued in the last few days off the coast of Libya, while sailing in rubber and wooden boats.
Over five hundred refugees and migrants, who were rescued in the last few days by two ships of non-governmental organizations operating in the Mediterranean, were transferred to Italian ports.
The Berlin-based NGO SOS Humanity’s Humanity 1 boat arrived in the Adriatic city of Bari on Sunday with 261 people on board.
While the Geo Barents, of the NGO Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF), docked in Salerno, south of Naples, with 248 refugees and migrants.
These people, women, men and children, were rescued off the coast of Libya, while sailing in rubber and wooden boats.
Humanity 1 was carrying among others 93 minors, most of them unaccompanied.
Many of those rescued bore visible signs of torture, while some reported being sexually abused, according to the crew. According to SOS Humanity, they come from Syria, Egypt, Cameroon and Ivory Coast.
Unlike in November, when NGO ships had to wait weeks because of a conflict with the new far-right coalition government in Rome, this time there was a faster resolution. Permits were given to dock at Salerno and Bari—the voyage was much longer than to other Italian ports—after a few days.
However, according to SOS Humanity, it took 40 hours to travel the distance amid rough seas and many of those on board suffered greatly.
The interior ministry in Rome justified the decision by citing that the ports and reception facilities for refugees and migrants in Sicily are facing overcrowding.
The Italian government explained that its general immigration policy is not changing, explaining that it has exceptionally allowed ships to dock due to worsening weather, while it has once again accused NGOs of “encouraging” illegal immigration.
But migrants and refugees reach Italian shores even without any help. Over the weekend, a fishing boat carrying around 400 people was spotted by the Italian coast guard and escorted to Rigio in Calabria, where it docked.
In recent years, non-governmental organizations have been at the forefront of search and rescue operations for refugees and migrants trying to reach a country in the European Union by departing, often in anything but seaworthy boats, from the coasts of mainly Libya and Tunisia.
At least 17,000 people have died in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe since 2014, according to the UN.
In 2022, Italy saw a large increase in migrant arrivals by sea, according to Interior Ministry figures, to around 97,000 people, up from around 63,000 in 2021 and 32,000 in 2020.
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