ROME — A protracted standoff between a ship carrying rescued migrants and the Italian government ended early Saturday when the vessel docked at the southern island of Lampedusa and the captain was arrested. The 40 migrants rescued at sea disembarked at dawn, strained and exhausted after 16 days on the vessel, the Sea Watch 3, which flies a Dutch flag and is operated by Sea-Watch, a German nongovernmental organization. The Sea Watch, which rescued 53 people off the coast of Libya on June 12, had navigated toward Italy after rejecting an offer to dock in Tripoli, Libya, which humanitarian groups do not deem safe. In its attempt to dock, the Sea Watch 3 rammed a border-control vessel that was trying to stop it from reaching shore. “She saved people at sea, and then asked for a safe port to bring them to, which was denied,” he said.

Source: National Post June 29, 2019 21:00 UTC