A total of 1,146 African and Asian asylum seekers arrived in the port of Palermo on Thursday, authorities said.
The arrivals included 684 men, 354 women, 23 of whom are pregnant, and 108 minors. Social services from Palermo city council were present during the disembarking operations, and Catholic charity Caritas and some private associations are helping to find temporary lodging.
"The situation is becoming more critical day by day due to the total absence of the central state and the regional government," said City Councillor Agnese Ciulla, adding that the issue of unaccompanied minors was a particularly urgent problem.
In a separate rescue mission in the Mediterranean, the Aquarius ship run by medical-aid association Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) discovered the dead bodies of 21 women and one man lying in fuel in a rubber dinghy carrying other asylum seekers which was near the Libyan coast.
As well, 366 migrants rescued by the Phoenix ship are due to arrive in the port of Reggio Calabria on Friday. The migrants rescued on this boat come from countries including Mali, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Sudan, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.
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