Almost 200 Migrants Rescued in Mediterranean Land in Sicily After Long Delays - Charity

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2020) Roughly 200 migrants who were rescued in the Mediterranean Sea and were left on board the Ocean Viking vessel have been allowed to begin disembarking onto the Italian island of Sicily after long delays in receiving authorization, the SOS Mediterranee charity said.

According to earlier updates from the charity, many of the migrants had been rescued in late June and had been forced to remain on board the vessel as both the Italian and Maltese authorities were unresponsive to the charity's requests to come ashore. Several of the rescued migrants began developing signs of acute mental distress and suicidal tendencies, the charity said.

"After a full day of standing by, the disembarkation of 180 survivors from #OceanViking just started. Thank you to the many citizens & organisations who supported us over the past days," the charity said in a post on Twitter late on Monday.

The Maltese authorities in June allowed 425 migrants to disembark after they were held for a month offshore. Prime Minister Robert Abela said that the decision had to be made after one of the crews on board a vessel holding the migrants said that they had been threatened with violence.