Open Arms ship with 256 migrants on board anchors off Italy

The sea rescue organization saved hundreds of migrants hailing from Eritrea and Libya from the Mediterranean. Minors will be transferred to a shelter on land, while adults will be quarantined on a ferry.

A ship with around 265 rescued migrants on board was allowed to anchor off the coast of Italy on Monday.

The Spanish-flagged vessel, belonging to the sea rescue organization Open Arms, brought in migrants from separate rescue operations off Sicily.

Officials from Porto Empedocle said the transfer of around 50 minors to a shelter on land was being delayed due to rough seas. The children were granted permission to go on land after testing negative for COVID-19.

The remaining adults were expected to be transferred to a ferry where they will complete

two weeks of quarantine.

Rescued after two days at sea

Open Arms said 96 of those rescued had been in international waters for two days in wooden boats without life vests or food and water, with some suffering from hypothermia. Most of those rescued were from Eritrea, including two women and 17 minors.

In a separate operation, Open Arms had rescued around 169 migrants of the coast of Libya, where many human traffickers are based.

Italy is trying to get other European Union nations to accept more of the migrants arriving at its coasts, as many of them are eventually trying to reach northern European nations. Many of the hundreds of thousand of people who have been rescued at sea in recent years are fleeing persecution as well as poverty in their home countries.

Dozens of people on board had been adrift for days without food and water before being rescued