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Rescue ship "Geo Barents" in November 2022 in the port of Catania
Photo: ANTONIO PARRINELLO / REUTERS
According to the aid organization Doctors Without Borders, 599 people have been rescued from distress at sea in the Mediterranean Sea by ship. The migrants, including children, were picked up on Saturday off Sicily from an overcrowded ship, the organization said. The ship "Geo Barents", which was used for the rescue, had been in the region for training purposes.
The people had to be brought ashore on the orders of the Italian authorities in the port city of Bari on the east coast, MSF said. The journey time there is about 40 hours.
Aid agencies have in the past accused the right-wing Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government of complicating rescue operations by sending ships to far-flung ports after receiving refugees. In February, the authorities had also temporarily detained the "Geo Barents" in the port of Ancona.
Meloni's government is pursuing a distinctly restrictive migration policy. Since the beginning of the year, more than 47,000 migrants have arrived in Italy, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior. In the same period last year, there were around 18,000.
fdi/Reuters