Migrants in limbo again after landing in Italy

Dozens of migrants who disembarked on Italy's Lampedusa island were again in limbo Wednesday as a European deal to redistribute them failed to materialise and Madrid said it could hit the Spanish charity with a huge fine for rescuing them.

The prospect of a penalty comes after a protracted standoff between the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms and Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini finally came to an end.

The boat spent six days anchored off Lampedusa before a local prosecutor ordered that the migrants be allowed to land and the vessel temporarily seized amid a probe of Salvini for banning their entry to port.

Many had spent 19 days on board the ship after being picked up while in difficulty trying to make the perilous journey from Libya to Europe in small boats.

There were initially 147 mainly African migrants on the ship, but all minors and some suffering health problems had already disembarked.

As they walked down the gangplank one by one to the island's shore overnight, some could be seen limping or in bandages.

Photos: AFP

One named Mohammed, 23, told AFP: "I nearly went mad," explaining that he and other migrants had been left "to cook like spaghetti on our boat" after it broke down in the Mediterranean.

The prosecutor who inspected the ship and decided the migrants should be allowed to disembark said they had been plunged into "a state of extreme emotions".

They were "veering between fear of death in the event of returning to the country (Libya) and hope of a new life, even if it meant throwing themselves into the sea and swimming to the island (Lampedusa)", the prosecutor said in a report quoted by Italian media.

Last vessel

Salvini had banned all NGO rescue boats from entering Italian ports.

With the Open Arms impounded, the only remaining charity vessel currently operating in the Mediterranean, the Ocean Viking, was still seeking a safe port for its 356 rescued migrants.

The ship operated by French charities SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been holding its position for 10 days between Malta and Lampedusa.

"As maritime law stipulates, we've been asking Italian and Maltese search and rescue coordination centres for a safe port since we made our first rescue on August 9," said Frederic Penard, head of operations for SOS Mediterranee.

"For the time being we've had no reply from Italy and a rather negative one from Malta," he told AFP by phone.

The Open Arms on Wednesday sailed to Porto Empedocle in Sicily where the prosecutor ordered it temporarily seized as part of his investigation.

Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo told Spanish radio: "The Open Arms doesn't have a permit to rescue."

The vessel had in April been authorised to leave Barcelona, where it was immobilised for three months, to transport humanitarian aid to Greece.

It was banned from heading to the seas off Libya, often the launchpad for migrants attempting to reach Europe, but went anyway.

Million dollar fine

A document from the directorate-general for Spain's merchant navy sent to AFP by the Proactiva Open Arms charity said it risks a fine of up to 901,000 euros ($1 million) for violating this ban.

Six European Union countries - France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and Spain - had offered to take them all in.

Calvo said the military ship sent to Lampedusa could take charge of those migrants allocated to Spain if this agreement is implemented.

France said Wednesday it was sending a delegation from its refugee agency, Ofpra, to look at the situation of the some 40 migrants it has agreed to take.

France also said it was ready to take in "a large number of migrants" from the Ocean Viking, while repeating it would not take in the vessel itself.

A spokesman for the French presidency said the Ocean Viking should be allowed to dock "at the nearest port."

Sicily prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio intervened as part of a probe into alleged kidnapping and refusing to obey orders targeting Salvini.

Salvini hit back on Facebook about the decision to let the migrants off the boat, saying: "If anybody thinks they can scare me with the umpteenth complaint and wants a trial, they're mistaken."

A Spanish naval patrol boat, the Audaz, set off from Rota in southwestern Spain on Tuesday on a three-day trip to Lampedusa to fetch the Open Arms migrants.

Spain had tried to break the standoff over the migrants at the weekend by offering up its southern port of Algeciras, which the NGO said could "not be achieved" due to the distance and tensions on board.

Madrid then suggested Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, nearer but still around 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from Lampedusa.

The charity described the offer as "totally incomprehensible" and continued to demand the ship be allowed to dock in Lampedusa.

Last charity ship seeks port for 356 rescued migrants

The organisation running a charity ship in the Mediterranean voiced hope Wednesday for a safe port for its 356 rescued migrants after another NGO vessel docked in Italy, ending a week-long standoff.

The Ocean Viking operated by French charities SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has been holding its position for 10 days between Malta and Lampedusa, asking for a safe port.

"As maritime law stipulates, we've been asking Italian and Maltese search and rescue coordination centres for a safe port since we made our first rescue on August 9," said Frederic Penard, head of operations for SOS Mediterranee.

"For the time being we've had no reply from Italy and a rather negative one from Malta," he told AFP by phone.

The crew have been at pains not to relate the travails of the Open Arms charity rescue vessel which finally disembarked its 83 migrants on Italy's Lampedusa island overnight Tuesday.

They were allowed to disembark after a local prosecutor ordered the ship seized as part of a probe into far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for preventing the ship docking.

Many had been on the Open Arms for 19 days.

The Ocean Viking crew did not want a repeat of scenes aboard the Open Arms which saw desperate migrants jumping into the sea in the hope of swimming to Lampedusa, although word has now spread that that ship has docked.

"We know that several European states want to end these ad hoc solutions and set up a system" to handle migrants," said Penard.

"That's what we're asking for but these people must disembark now: you can't have negotiations when you've got more than 300 people trapped at sea in difficult conditions."

Malta at the last minute blocked the vessel from approaching to take water and fuel, so the Ocean Viking and those on board are trying to consume as little as possible.

Rescued migrants disembark as Italy justice probes Salvini

Eighty-three migrants rescued at sea by the Open Arms disembarked early Wednesday from the charity rescue vessel in Italy's Lampedusa island, television images showed, after Italian justice ordered they be brought ashore.

The boat had spent six days anchored off Lampedusa before a local prosecutor ordered their disembarkment amid a probe of far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for forbidding their entry to port.

Many of them had spent 19 days on board the ship after being picked up while in difficulty trying to make the perilous journey from Libya to Europe in small boats.

As they walked down the gang plank one by one to the island's shore, some could be seen limping or in bandages.

Salvini, who may be out of a job on Wednesday after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned in protest at the League leader's bid to bring the government down, has forbidden all NGO rescue boats from entering Italian ports.

"After 19 days, we will land in Lampedusa today. The boat will be temporarily seized, but it is a cost that Open Arms assumes to ensure that people on board can be taken care of," tweeted founder of Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms, Oscar Camps.

After an inspection by judicial police and doctors, prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio ordered the migrants be disembarked on the small island of Lampedusa due to tensions onboard.

Fifteen migrants, some without lifejackets, jumped into the sea earlier on Tuesday in an attempt to swim to Lampedusa.

Spain sent a naval vessel to pick-up the migrants, after the long wait onboard had led to fights and suicide threats as tempers frayed.

The charity warned the situation was "out of control," with many of the migrants suffering post-traumatic stress.

Prosecutor Patronaggio intervened as part of a probe into alleged kidnapping and refusing to obey orders targeting Salvini.

Salvini hit back on Facebook about the decision to let the migrants off the boat, saying: "If anybody thinks they can scare me with the umpteenth complaint and wants a trial, they're mistaken."

More migrants jump from rescue ship off Italian island

More migrants jumped off the Spanish humanitarian rescue ship Open Arms Tuesday in a desperate bid to reach shore, tantalizingly near after 19 days blocked on board in deteriorating conditions by Italy's refusal to open its ports.

Open Arms described the situation on board as "out of control" and "desperate." After one migrant jumped ship earlier in the day and was rescued by the Italian coast guard, nine more launched themselves into the sea wearing orange life vests.

A reporter with the Spanish public broadcaster TVE reporting from the NGO boat said that the earlier jumper refused to return to the Open Arms ship, and was brought to the Italian island of Lampedusa instead, apparently triggering the reaction of the nine who followed his lead. The reporter said that those jumping were "desperate and going mad" after 19 days trapped on board.

Open Arms said that the Italian coast guard managed to rescue all nine of the later group, but it was not immediately clear if they would also be taken to land.

Live video showed people wearing life vests floating in the sea, some in groups some individually, with a coast guard vessel nearby and rubber dinghies trying to reach them.

Open Arms confirmed that the first man who jumped, a Syrian national, was brought to Lampedusa. The group described the situation on board as "desperate," saying that a man threw himself into the water, trying to reach land that was in plain view, while at the same moment a woman suffered a panic attack.

The NGO's spokeswoman, Laura Lanuza, said she heard from Open Arms crew members that "those who remain aboard are threatening with jumping as well."

The Open Arms captain previously informed Italian authorities that the crew of 17 can no longer control the situation on board, as frustrated migrants resort to fighting.

Italy's hard-line interior minister has refused port access to the ship, even though six other European countries have agreed to take the passengers.

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