Italy’s new left-leaning government has allowed a rescue vessel carrying 82 migrants to come ashore on the island of Lampedusa, after nearly a week at sea.
Many of those on board the Ocean Viking, operated by charities SOS Méditerranée and Doctors Without Borders, are expected to be relocated to other countries, with Germany and France each pledging to take 25 percent of the passengers.
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Italy’s foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, stressed that the move did not herald the return of an “open ports” policy. But it represents a sea change from the hardline stance of the previous coalition government between Di Maio’s 5Star Movement and Matteo Salvini’s far-right League party.
The new government, composed of the 5Stars and the center-left Democratic Party, took office earlier this month.
Source: Italian welcome for 82 migrants marks ‘end of Salvini’s propaganda,’ says minister
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