End of the ordeal for dozens of migrants stuck for a week on the Gregoretti, an Italian coastguard ship. They landed Wednesday, July 31, after an agreement to distribute between five European countries and the Italian Church, announced Rome and Brussels. Matteo Salvini, Italian Minister of the Interior and boss of the League (far right), announced at mid-day his authorization. "The job is done, mission accomplished", he rejoiced on Twitter.
On July 25, the day when more than 110 other migrants were missing in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya, the Gregoretti had taken on board a total of 140 people from Libya a few days earlier in two separate boats. by fishermen and rescued by stars of the Italian coastguard.
They assured that the operation had taken place in consultation with the Ministry of the Interior, but Matteo Salvini then said he would let the migrants land with a plan to distribute them within the European Union .
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This approach seemed intended to test the resolution of the French President, Emmanuel Macron, who announced on July 22 an agreement between 14 European countries to implement a "solidarity mechanism", immediately mocked by Matteo Salvini, since he assumed that migrants first had to land in Italy.
At the same time, 143 migrants rescued on 25 and 26 July by the Maltese Navy were welcomed in Valletta. At the beginning of July, Malta had also taken care of a hundred migrants rescued by the Alan Kurdi, after a distribution agreement for some of them.
As in previous iron fights around the fate of migrants stranded at sea, authorizations were given in the drip to migrants Gregoretti: six medical evacuations from July 25, a pregnant woman and his family July 27, 15 minors Monday, a sick Wednesday at midday ...
The 116 men still on board the Gregoretti landed Wednesday afternoon in the military port of Augusta (Sicily) and were taken to the Pozzallo hotspot, a little further south. These migrants and the miners previously landed must then be divided between Germany, Portugal, France, Luxembourg, Ireland and the Church of Italy, said Matteo Salvini and a spokesman for the European Commission.
Thirty people welcomed in rancor
"A European solution has been found for the women and men stuck on the ship Gregoretti", greeted Emmanuel Macron on social networks. "They will land in Italy, then will be welcomed in 6 countries, including France.Our country is faithful to its principles: responsibility, solidarity and European cooperation".
France said it would accommodate 30 people, provided that it is "refugees and not economic migrants." The Church of Italy is preparing to receive 50 people in its reception center in Rocca di Papa, south of Rome. In August 2018, the Church had already helped to resolve a similar crisis by hosting in the same center a hundred migrants stranded for the same reasons on the Diciotti, another ship of the Italian coastguard.
Matteo Salvini's firmness towards migrants rescued by NGOs or even by Italian police or coastguards does not prevent arrivals in Italy. According to his ministry, more than 3,700 migrants arrived this year on the Italian coast, including 950 in July.
With AFP and Reuters