The humanitarian organization SOS Mediterranee said the Ocean Viking, a rescue ship carrying 422 migrants, was going to the port of Sicily on Sunday after receiving permission from the Italian government.
The migrants were rescued by the vessel in four operations over a two-day period, according to search and rescue coordinator Luisa Albera. Albera said a pregnant woman and another person accompanying her were evacuated to Malta by helicopter the day before, the Associated Press reported.
Eight of those on board tested positive for coronavirus and are isolated, according to the organization.
“But while the strict COVID-19 mitigation protocols apply on board the Ocean Viking, this is a 69 meter (228 ft) long ship,” said Albera, according to the AP. “This situation is all the more reason for the 422 remaining survivors, who are in confined space on the stern deck, to be immediately landed in a safe place,” she said.
Italian authorities have begun transferring passengers on rescue ships to other ships, to allow them to be quarantined on arrival during the pandemic, according to the AP. The latest wave of migrants arriving in Italy are rated predominantly as economic migrants, rather than fugitives from war or political persecution, making them ineligible for asylum.
Meanwhile, several other migrants who entered Italy by land from the Balkans were rejected in both Italy and Slovenia, according to the AP. Pope Francis
Pope Francis In Biden, the media finally has a religious president to celebrate the Pope marks Holocaust Remembrance Day with a warning against extremism Pope will miss three events due to sciatica MORE on Sunday, he asked for humanitarian aid, particularly for unaccompanied minors, saying that although he had recently learned of the situation of those on the Balkan route, “there are so many … on all routes”.
“We are going to work so that these fragile and defenseless creatures do not lack zealous zeal and preferential humanitarian channels,” continued the pontiff, according to the AP.