Italy finally assigns safe harbor to the Ocean Viking

Italy assigned Lampedusa as a safe harbor to 82 people rescued by the charity vessel Ocean Viking, the humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders said on Twitter, on Saturday.

The vessel which is operated by SOS Méditerranée and MSF has 82 asylum seekers on board.

A decision now must be taken whether the people on board will either be brought ashore on board the Ocean Viking or will be transferred to the Italian law enforcement patrol boats.

It isn’t clear if Italy’s new government is softening its anti-migrant policy. The previous coalition banned charity boats from bringing migrants to Italy.

Fifty of those aboard were rescued on Sept. 8 from human traffickers’ flimsy rubber dinghy launched from Libya. Thirty-four other migrants were rescued the next day in the Mediterranean. A woman about to give birth and her husband were taken to Malta earlier in the week.

The heavily pregnant woman and her husband were airlifted to Malta and then gave birth at Mater Dei Hospital.

Via ANSA