More than 70 migrants on a rescue ship awaiting permission to dock in southern Italy jumped into the sea in frustration Thursday and were picked up by Italian authorities off Palermo, a Spanish humanitarian group said. The ship then headed for Palermo, on Sicily's northern coast, where it awaited instructions on where to disembark its passengers. On Monday, Italy allowed 27 migrants who had spent some 40 days aboard a Danish tanker to be brought to land aboard an Italian humanitarian rescue ship. Humanitarian groups complain that the European Union is abandoning migrants making the dangerous sea crossing from North Africa. Speaking after a meeting with his Spanish counterpart on Madrid, Bartolo said it was up to the EU to set up a system to deal with migrants rescued by NGOs or merchant ships.

Source: The North Africa Journal September 17, 2020 16:18 UTC