Italy lets migrants leave ship 10 days after rescue
The country’s populist government had not let them leave the ship earlier, demanding that other EU countries take them.
Italy has allowed all the migrants stuck on an Italian coast guard ship to disembark, 10 days after they were rescued in the Mediterranean Sea.
Some 137 migrants left the Diciotti early on Sunday, stepping on to the dock at Catania, Sicily, where police photographed them for ID checks, a requirement for asylum seekers.
Italy’s populist government had not let them leave the ship earlier, demanding that other European Union countries take them.
Non-EU Albania will take 20, while Italian Catholic bishops said they would care for about 100.
On August 16, the Diciotti’s crew rescued 190 migrants, most from Eritrea, from a smuggling boat.
The others, including minors and ailing migrants, were allowed off earlier.
Italy has threatened economic reprisals against the EU for not helping it enough with migrants.
