New Italy govt lets rescued migrants disembark

ROME: Italy on Saturday agreed to allow rescue ship Ocean Viking to disembark 82 migrants on Lampedusa, in a reversal of the hardline policy under the country’s ex-interior minister Matteo Salvini.

Far-right leader Salvini was forced out of office last month after bringing the government down, and the new coalition has been trying to forge its own migrant stance.

It is the first time in 14 months that Italy has offered a migrant rescue ship a safe port, although it took Rome six days and European guarantees to redistribute the migrants before it did so.

"The Ocean Viking just received instructions from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre of Rome to proceed to Lampedusa," SOS Mediterranee, which operates the vessel, tweeted.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said there had been an "ad hoc" agreement to divide the migrants between five countries -- Italy, France, Germany, Portugal and Luxembourg.

France and Germany have agreed to take 25 percent of the migrants each, with Italy to take 10 percent. "We now need to agree on a genuine temporary European mechanism," Castaner added.

The Italian coastguard will send a vessel to pick up the migrants at sea in order not to perturb port operations, Italian media reported.

Under far-right leader Salvini, charity vessels with rescued migrants on board faced fines of up to a million euros as well as the arrest of the captain and impounding of the boat.

"Having been designated a place of safety that qualifies as such is good news," said Nicola Stalla, search and rescue coordinator aboard the Ocean Viking.