Rescue ship with 470 people waits to be granted safe port

A rescue ship with 470 migrants rescued off the coast of Libya and Malta in the past few weeks is waiting in the Mediterranean to be granted a safe port.

The migrants were rescued in seven different operations over a 72-hour period beginning May 9th. Among those on board are 195 minors, including two who are under a year old. Many of the people on board are victims of sexual and physical violence, four of them boarded boats for Europe with fractured bones as a result of violence in Libya. According to the Italian Ministry of Interior, as of May 13th, 12,881 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea in 2022.