Almost 300 rescued migrants arrive at the southern Italian port
ROME (AP) — Nearly 300 migrants landed in the southern Italian port of Taranto on Saturday after being rescued at sea in five separate operations by the crew of a humanitarian vessel operated by Doctors Without Borders.
About half of the 293 passengers rescued on the Geo Barents were unaccompanied minors, according to mission operators.
Doctors Without Borders said on Twitter that the men, women and children faced “horrific journeys, abuse, and detention in Libya” before crossing the Mediterranean Sea. They were rescued in international waters off Libya and Malta, he said.
Most of the migrants were from Gambia, Egypt and Libya, according to the rescue.
The Italian authorities assigned Geo Barents the port in Taranto in the south-eastern “heel” of the country nine days after the initial rescue.
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In a separate operation early Saturday, another humanitarian rescue ship, the Ocean Viking, rescued around 35 immigrants, including three children, most of them from Syria, in international waters outside Malta.
Italy’s new far-right Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who took office on Saturday, promised during her campaign to stop illegal immigration.
One of its main partners in the coalition is the Leader of the League Matteo Salvini. As Italy’s Interior Minister in 2018-19, Salvini sought to stop rescue boats from bringing migrants to Italian ports. He claims that he was protecting his country but was prosecuted in Italy for that policy,
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