Image copyright
EPA / SOS MEDITERRANEE
The decision to allow the group to disembark follows a week of tension aboard the ship.
Italy has given permission for 180 immigrants rescued from the Mediterranean to disembark from a ship run by charities.
The decision comes after a clash that lasted more than a week.
The Ocean Viking, operated by the SOS Méditerranée rescue group, declared a state of emergency on Friday, citing fears for the safety of the migrants and crew.
The migrants will be transferred to a government ship in Sicily on Monday and will be in quarantine for 14 days.
Doctors have already tested the Ocean Viking for Covid-19. The results are expected on Monday.
- Migrant children’s centers ‘breaking through the seams’
- The boat that disappeared
Immigrants are from a variety of countries, including Pakistan, Eritrea, and Nigeria. They had fled off the Libyan coast when they were rescued in four separate groups between June 25 and 30.
They include 25 minors, most of whom are not accompanied by adults and two women, including one who is pregnant.
The ship had been waiting for permission to allow passengers to leave the ship in Italy or Malta.
Image copyright
AFP
The migrants were rescued while fleeing the Libyan coast.
As time passed, those on board had become desperate to get ashore, while others, unable to contact friends and family to inform them that they were safe, had become distressed, the AFP news agency reports.
An SOS Méditerranée doctor said he had noticed “enormous psychological discomfort on the ship,” where the situation was “almost out of control, for the guests and the crew.”
A crew member said there were a series of fights and suicide threats.
A source from the Italian Interior Ministry told AFP that a medical team had been dispatched to the ship prior to landing.
“We are very happy! We have come a long way, Libya was like hell and now we can at least see the end. I need to tell my family that I am still alive,” said a 27-year-old passenger. Rabiul of Bangladesh.
SOS Méditerranée wrote on Twitter that “the unnecessary delay of this landing has put lives at risk.”
More than 110,000 migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean last year. More than 1,200 died during the attempt, according to the International Organization for Migration.
It is believed that warmer weather during the summer could lead to an increase in the number of attempts.
