Dozens of migrants still stuck on vessel in Italy port

An Italian coastguard vessel stranded in the Mediterranean with more than 130 migrants aboard has been allowed to dock in the eastern Sicilian port of Augusta but Rome yesterday refused to let them disembark until a deal is struck with the EU.

“The Gregoretti berthed in the port of Augusta overnight, as is normal procedure for a military vessel. Now the EU has to act because the migration question concerns the whole continent,” Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said in a statement.

Some 140 migrants, who had set off from Libya in two rickety boats, were picked up by Italian patrols on Thursday night and transferred to the Gregoretti ship.

The operation took place on the same day that at least 115 other migrants were believed to have drowned in a shipwreck off Libya -- the Mediterranean’s deadliest tragedy this year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Several migrants aboard the Gregoretti have already been evacuated for medical attention, including a seven-month pregnant woman, her two children and her partner.

However, Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has reiterated that the remaining migrants would not be able to leave the vessel until other European countries agree to take them in.

Salvini, also deputy prime minister, has taken a hard line against migrants rescued at sea being brought to Italy, which he says bears an unfair burden in the crisis.