Last migrants held up on charity ship allowed ashore in Italy

Thirty-five migrants who were held up on a rescue ship have been allowed ashore in Sicily, ending a stand-off between the German charity that runs the vessel and Italy’s new right-wing government.
“We are relieved that the people can go ashore and, as people rescued from distress at sea, have finally been given a place of safety, as required by maritime law,” Till Rummenhohl of the SOS Humanity group said late on Tuesday.
The group’s ship, Humanity 1, was allowed to dock at the Sicilian port of Catania on the weekend, but Italian authorities initially let only 144 rescued people, mainly women and children, go ashore.
The 35 left aboard started a hunger strike, while the captain refused to comply with an order to return to sea.
Italy dealt similarly with the Geo Barents, a rescue ship run by French charity Doctors Without Borders. The government permitted only selective disembarkation of migrants from that vessel on the weekend.