The Italian Rescue Coordination Center (ITMRCC) has assigned this Tuesday to the ‘Ocean Viking’, managed by the NGO SOS Mediterranée, the port of the city of Ravenna to disembark with 113 migrants on board rescued from the sea the night before.
This has been detailed by the organization itself in a statement, showing their complaints about the location of the port offered by the Italian government, 900 nautical miles from the town of La Spezia, the nearest port where the rescue took place.
«After the rescue of 113 people, the Italian Rescue Coordination Center (ITMRCC) has assigned to the ‘Ocean Viking’ a remote place of safety (La Spezia) (…) A few hours later, the ITMRCC assigned a new port, Ravenna, 900 nautical miles away or four long days of navigation,» wields the NGO in a message on the social network Twitter.
During the previous night, the ‘Ocean Viking’ evacuated 112 people aboard a black inflatable boat overloaded with people. In it, 23 women were traveling, some of them pregnant, about thirty unaccompanied minors and three babies, including a child just three weeks old.
«We are relieved for the survivors on board, but we are also concerned for other possible boats in distress in the central Mediterranean, as we are the only search and rescue NGO currently operating at sea,» SOS Mediterranée reiterated in its missive.
Italy’s decision to grant a port to the ‘Ocean Viking’ comes more than a month after it denied the same NGO access to the country, leading France to offer a safe port for the then 234 migrants.
Italy’s new government, led by far-right Giorgia Meloni, has promised to be stricter with these permits.
More than 1,300 people have died this year in the central Mediterranean area alone, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
