After heading to France, the humanitarian ship Alan Kurdi should disembark, Friday, September 25, in Sardinia, the 125 migrants on board, according to the NGO Sea-Eye.
"Alan Kurdi has just been assigned a 'safe port' by the MRCC of Rome (coordination center for rescues at sea, Editor's note). This is the city of Olbia in the north of Sardinia", Gorden Isler, the leader of the Bavarian NGO which charters the boat, told AFP.
The ship should reach the port on Friday at around 6 a.m. (4 a.m. GMT) and be able to disembark those rescued at sea, including children, he added.
In Rome, the Italian Interior Ministry claimed to have authorized the boat to disembark people on board.
Fifty minors
"The European relocation procedure was launched at the same time as the authorization to these requests (to shelter and disembark the migrants, Editor's note): 80% of the rescued migrants will be transferred to other European countries", assured the Italian ministry in a press release.
Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese clarified that only 25 of the migrants aboard the Alan Kurdi would remain in Italy.
France had asked Italy on Wednesday to allow the Alan Kurdi to dock, who rescued 133 people in the Mediterranean on Saturday, while on his way to the French port of Marseille, failing to have been able to land on the Italian coast.
Eight people, including a five-month-old baby, had however been evacuated by the Italian coast guard.
More than 50 minors are still aboard the boat, many of whom are unaccompanied youth, according to Sea-Eye.
Young children are also on the ship, but the situation among those rescued is described as "stable" by the NGO.
"Although a few people have had to be treated for seasickness, there are no serious problems on board," Sea-Eye said.
Italy and Malta on the front line
The principle of disembarking survivors in the nearest "safe port", enshrined in international maritime law, generally amounts to entrusting, during rescue operations in the central Mediterranean, this first reception to Italy or Malta.
French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday that the Sea-Eye boat was to "be accommodated in the nearest safe port", with France implicitly declining any possibility of letting the ship dock in Marseille.
"Since the start of the migration crisis, France has never shied away from its responsibilities concerning the reception of people in distress who may present themselves at the borders of Europe", added Gabriel Attal, and she "will continue to take its part in this welcome ".
This request from France came on the day of the presentation by the European Commission of a "European Pact on Migration and Asylum", which provides in particular for a solidarity mechanism to be triggered in the event of a rescue at sea. 'that is to say, it demands that countries volunteer to relieve Italy and Malta.
An increase in crossings
In this vast catalog of measures which has yet to be submitted to the vote of the Twenty-Seven, Brussels also recommends that NGOs which come to the aid of migrants in distress be protected from prosecution.
The year 2020 saw an upsurge in the central Mediterranean of boats loaded with candidates for exile to Europe, departing from Libya or Tunisia.
Between January and the end of July, crossing attempts from Libya increased by 91% compared to the same period last year, to a total of 14,481 people.
Those leaving Tunisia jumped 462%.
With AFP
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