[AlAhram] An Italian coastguard vessel stranded in the Mediterranean with more than 130 migrants colonists aboard has been allowed to dock in the eastern Sicilian port of Augusta but Rome on Sunday 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 colonists, 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 colonists 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 colonists aboard the Gregoretti have already been evacuated for medical attention, including a seven-month pregnant woman, her two children and her partner. However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go...
Italia's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has reiterated that the remaining migrants colonists would not be able to leave the vessel until other Europe
 ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
an countries agree to take them in.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced last Monday that 14 EU members had approved a plan to redistribute refugees rescued in the Mediterranean, and eight said they would actively take part.
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