(AFP) Italy on Saturday allowed 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 given 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 migrants were transferred from the ship operated by SOS Mediterranee to an Italian coastguard vessel and taken to shore in Lampedusa, Italian television images showed.
