So far this year, more than 39,330 migrants have reached Italy via the central Mediterranean route.

In the early hours of Tuesday, the humanitarian vessel Sea-Watch 5, operated by the NGO Sea-Watch, rescued about 100 migrants in the central Mediterranean.

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The German NGO confirmed that all the rescued people “are safe” and that the ship is heading to the port of Catania, on the island of Sicily, assigned by Italian authorities for disembarkation.

Earlier Tuesday, another humanitarian ship, the Humanity 1, which belongs to the NGO SOS Humanity, docked in the port of Naples with 134 migrants on board, all men, including 10 unaccompanied minors. The migrants, of Bangladeshi, Eritrean, Egyptian and Yemeni nationality, had been rescued days earlier while traveling in two fiberglass boats.

The NGO criticized Italian authorities for assigning them a “distant” port more than 750 kilometers from the rescue site, which, it said, “denies people their right to immediately disembark in a safe place.”

On Tuesday, the island of Lampedusa also received 106 migrants, who were rescued by the Italian Financial Guard. The people were traveling in two vessels: one with 37 occupants and another with 69.

The first boat, about 10 meters long, carried Bangladeshi, Egyptian, Pakistani and Tunisian citizens who had departed from Tajoura, Libya. The second boat, which reportedly left from Zuwara, carried Bangladeshis, Egyptians and Moroccans, according to local media.

All the migrants were taken to the Contrada Imbriacola reception center in Lampedusa, where 215 people are housed. So far this year, more than 39,330 migrants have reached Italy via the central Mediterranean route, a higher figure than during the same period in 2024, when about 38,191 people had arrived.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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