Minors finally transferred from Spanish rescue ship Open Arms to Lampedusa

Minors who have been on board the Spanish charity ship Open Arms for over two weeks were finally transferred to the Italian island of Lampedusa on Saturday. The Barcelona-based NGO Open Arms said that 27 minors had been authorized to leave the ship. That left 107 migrants on the ship.

Open Arms said the 16 days waiting for a port to disembark in had taken their toll on the migrants, with frequent fights breaking about among them and conditions on board deteriorating. Italy's far-right Interior Minister has ordered his officials not to let all the migrants disembark, although on Saturday he made a partial concession, saying he would allow any children to leave the boat. He added that he had only agreed to this at the insistence of Prime Minister.