Italy on Tuesday allowed a charity boat carrying hundreds of migrants rescued at sea to dock in the Sicilian port of Augusta, with another vessel waiting offshore for permission to bring 440 more to land. The German charity boat Sea Watch 3 is also seeking a port to disembark the 440 migrants it rescued in recent days in the Mediterranean, including women and young children. Italy has seen a sharp increase in boat migrants in recent months with the government struggling to secure an agreement with European Union partners over how to deal with the influx. In early 2021, Malta refused to allow the disembarkation of a private vessel that had rescued migrants at the authorities request. Then in December, the authorities again refused to allow disembarkation of over 200 migrants rescued within its own search and rescue area.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 29, 2021 06:28 UTC