Italy: 183 migrants brought by NGO ships allowed to disembark despite ‘closed’ ports

After a two week quarantine on a cruise ship off the coast of Sicily, illegal migrants from the NGO ships Alan Kurdi and Aita Mari have been allowed to enter Italy, despite the country’s leftist-establishment government claiming last month that its ports would remain closed until July 31st.

On Monday, 181 migrants were allowed to leave the cruise ship ‘Raffaele Rubattino’ to land at a port in Palermo after they all tested negative for the Wuhan coronavirus, Italy News Agency reports.

Of the 183 illegal migrants that disembarked on Monday, only two were women. 146 came from the Alan Kurdi, a ship operated by the German NGO Sea-Eye, while the rest came from the Aita Mari, a vessel run by the Basque NGO Salvamento Marítimo Humanitario.

The migrants, after having set foot on Italian land, were transferred by bus to reception centers in Benevento and Salerno.

The successful disembarking of this group of migrants is only the latest victory for NGO migrant transport ships over Italy’s leftist-establishment coalition government.

As Voice of Europe reported in April, a decree was signed by Italy’s interior, foreign, health, and transport ministers which allegedly “closed” the country’s ports to NGO migrant transport ships, at least, until July 31st.

“For the entire duration of the national health emergency that has resulted from the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Italian ports do not ensure the necessary requirements for the classification and definition of ” Place of Safety”, the decree reads.

On Tuesday, deaths from the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic in Italy climbed by 236 compared to 195 on Monday, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases came in at 1,075 compared to 1,221 on Monday. Despite these numbers, Italy continues to allow illegal migrants into the country.

While the crew of the Aita Mari has already announced its desire to organize a new “migrant rescue” mission, it’s likely that the Alan Kurdi plans on doing the same.

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