(ANSAmed) - TARANTO, JANUARY 16 - The 119 migrants on board
the Sea Watch 3 vessel that had been rescued in recent days in
three operations in Maltese waters were disembarked Thursday
morning at Taranto's San Cataldo pier.
About 40 of them, unaccompanied minors, were transferred to
municipal facilities and the others will be taken to the closest
hotspot for identification.
Afterwards they will be moved to national and foreign
reception centers, as provided for by the Italian interior
ministry.
France, Germany, Portugal, and Ireland have said they are
willing to take in the asylum seekers.
Waiting for the migrants at the pier around 7:30 AM were
officials from the prefect's office and the town council,
alongside security forces, the Red Cross, Civil Defense, and
volunteer associations.
Italy's anti-migrant, right-wing League party lashed out at
the decision to allow them to disembark.
League MP Rossano Sasso said that he had been present during
the disembarking and that Italy's southern Puglia region "is
becoming ever more Europe's refugee camp on the wishes of the
Democratic Party (PD) and the 5-Star Movement (M5S), with
(Interior Minister Luciana) Lamorgese continuing not to respond
to my (request for) a parliamentary interrogation".
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