Nearly 700 migrants stranded in Mediterranean to disembark in Italy

Rome, Aug 4 (EFE).- Some 659 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean by the private ship Geo Barents from Doctors without Borders (MSF) have been granted permission to disembark in Italy after waiting for over a week, the humanitarian organization said Thursday.

“After nearly 9 days spent at sea, our 659 survivors will be able to disembark in the (southern Italian) port of Taranto,” MSF wrote in a Twitter post.

“This prolonged period of blockage at sea is one of the longest ever experienced by our team. This must not happen again,” it added.

Among those saved, there are more than 150 minors, two pregnant women and several babies.

On Wednesday, MSF said the situation was “growing more precarious every day” and that the “food rations are running low.”

So far this year, 42,324 migrants have arrived on Italian coasts, compared to the 30,180 who had done so in the same period in 2021, according to data from the ministry of the interior. EFE

lsc/smq/mp