It isn’t yet clear when the ship will be in place and, meanwhile, migrants centers have filled beyond their capacity in recent days. Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese has promised to transfer 500 migrants from Sicily to other parts of Italy by Tuesday. That helped slow the departure of boats carrying migrants, which are often unseaworthy and need rescuing. When the sea is rougher, the small migrant boats often use satellite phones to call Italian authorities for help once they clear the territorial waters of Libya. The few migrants who tested positive for the coronavirus have been transported by helicopter to places on the mainland, he said.

Source: Wall Street Journal July 28, 2020 17:33 UTC