Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said NGOs being assigned Ancona as their port of landing were used to covering “prohibitive” distances. He stressed Sicily and Calabria could not become Europe’s migrant camp.
Piantedosi played down complaints from migrant rescue NGOs who complain of being assigned the Marche port of Ancona. He said they are used to being at sea for two or three weeks, and also Sicily and Calabria should not become Europe’s migrant camp.
The Ocean Viking is expected to arrive at the Marche port of landing with 37 migrants on Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, the Geo Barents with its 73 migrants will take about a day longer.
The SOS Méditerranée association charters the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) returned to sea-rescue of refugees in the Mediterranean in June 2021 with the ship Geo Barents.
This is the seventh year in which MSF personnel have operated at sea in the Mediterranean; and Geo Barents is the sixth humanitarian ship on which they have worked.
Ten times more migrants in first 9 days of 2023
The migrants will be housed in five containers in Ancona.
In the first nine days of this year, some 3,673 migrants reached Italy. That is 10 times more than the 378 who landed in the same period last year. Most of the migrants do not arrive on NGO ships.
So far this year, the following are the most represented nationalities of migrants: Pakistanis (345), Egyptians (201) and Syrians (192). Also, some 146 unaccompanied minors have arrived so far.
