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Agence France-Presse

A charity ship carrying 47 rescued migrants docked in the Sicilian port of Catania Thursday, where the crew feared legal action as Italy’s far-right interior minister tries to stop new arrivals.
The Dutch-flagged Sea Watch 3, which had been waiting off the coast of Sicily with people it pulled to safety in the Mediterranean on January 19, was finally given permission to anchor in Catania after six other countries agreed to take them in.
The exhausted migrants, including 15 minors, cheered and hugged the crew as the ship sailed into the harbour.
“I foresee that there may be problems with the authorities,” Sea Watch’s mission head Kim Heaton-Heather told AFPTV.
“But I am also very, very certain that in the end, no matter what allegations are brought against the organisation, the ship or the crew as whole, none of these allegations will stick and the truth of the matter will come out,” he said.

France, Germany, Malta, Portugal, Romania and Luxembourg said they would share care of the mainly sub-Saharan group.
It was not clear whether Italy would also host some of them.
The ship had been sheltering from a storm off the coastal town of Syracuse, which had been ready to welcome those saved.
Salvini has warned he is considering legal action against Sea Watch’s crew, accusing them of sailing straight for Italy rather than taking the migrants to closer ports in Libya or Tunisia.
The German charity says it tried but failed to get a response from Tripoli or Tunis, and on Thursday launched an appeal for financial aid, tweeting “Help us with our legal costs!”
Italian minister Matteo Salvini threatens to sue refugee rescuers
People rescued at sea have frequently been left in limbo since Italy’s anti-immigration government came to power in July, and on Wednesday Salvini said he was looking to ban all ships with rescued migrants from entering Italian waters.
The decision to send the ship to Catania raised red flags among migration and legal experts who said it might be impounded, as was the case with several rescue vessels previously in different Mediterranean ports.
Should that happen, it would take the last rescue charity ship operating in the central Mediterranean out of action.

The only charity run rescue vessel left would be the Mare Jonio – a surveillance boat which aims to spot migrants in distress but is not equipped to rescue them.
Catania prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro has made a name for himself as a legal thorn in the side of the NGOs that rescue migrants at sea.
In March 2018 he impounded the Open Arms ship as part of an investigation into the crew for allegedly aiding illegal migrants by refusing to hand them over to the Libyan coastguard.
The ship was released after a month following a court ruling that Libya could not be considered a safe country because of a lack of safeguards for human rights, but the investigation continues.
Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and SOS Mediterranee said in December that the Aquarius ship would not sail again after “a relentless ongoing political, judicial and administrative campaign backed by several European states”.
The rescue vessel had been stuck in a French port for two months following the revocation of its registration.


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Boat carrying 47 migrants land in Sicily as ship crew faces uncertain fate

A migrant is cheered along as he disembarks from the rescue ship Sea-Watch 3, which was carrying 47 migrants, as it docked at the Sicilian port of Catania, southern Italy on Thursday. Europe's latest migrant stand-off came to a conclusion Thursday as 47 migrants kept at sea for nearly two weeks while Italy pressured European countries to take them in finally disembarked from their rescue ship in Sicily. Photo: AP Photo

TOPSHOT - Migrants line up to disembark from the Dutch-flagged Sea Watch 3 NGO rescue vessel after it docked on January 31, 2019 in the Sicilian port of Catania, southeastern Sicily. - A ship carrying 47 rescued migrants docked in the Sicilian port of Catania on January 31 with the crew fearing legal action as Italy's far-right interior minister tries to stop new arrivals. The ship which had been waiting off the coast of Sicily with people it rescued in the Mediterranean on January 19, was finally given permission to dock in Catania after six other countries agreed to take them in. (Photo by FEDERICO SCOPPA / AFP)

TOPSHOT - A migrant disembarks from the Dutch-flagged Sea Watch 3 NGO rescue vessel after it docked on January 31, 2019 in the Sicilian port of Catania, southeastern Sicily. - A ship carrying 47 rescued migrants docked in the Sicilian port of Catania on January 31 with the crew fearing legal action as Italy's far-right interior minister tries to stop new arrivals. The ship which had been waiting off the coast of Sicily with people it rescued in the Mediterranean on January 19, was finally given permission to dock in Catania after six other countries agreed to take them in. (Photo by Federico Scoppa / AFP)

Italian minister Matteo Salvini threatens to sue refugee rescuers

Italian Member of Parliament Stefania Prestigiacomo (C) looks on after boarding the Dutch-flagged rescue vessel Sea Watch 3, along with other MPs and the major of Syracuse, Francesco Italia (Bottom R on aboard dinghy), to meet with 47 migrants and verify the situation onboard, on January 27, 2019 off Syracuse, Sicily. - Members of parliament who had been refused permission by the ministry to board the Sea Watch 3 made their own way onto the vessel which has taken shelter from bad weather off the coast of Sicily. Italy's interior minister Matteo Salvini said on January 27 he was gathering legal evidence against the crew of the Dutch-flagged rescue ship as calls grew for 47 migrants to be allowed to land. (Photo by FEDERICO SCOPPA / AFP)

The migrant search and rescue ship Sea-Watch 3, operated by German NGO Sea-Watch, is seen off the coast of Siracusa, Italy, January 26, 2019. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Syracuse mayor Francesco Italia (C) and Sea Watch head of mission Kim Heaton-Heather (2ndR) pose for photos and selfie photos with migrants aboard the Dutch-flagged rescue vessel Sea Watch 3, after Italia and Italian MPs boarded the vessel to meet with 47 migrants and verify the situation onboard, on January 27, 2019 off Syracuse, Sicily. - Members of parliament who had been refused permission by the ministry to board the Sea Watch 3 made their own way onto the vessel which has taken shelter from bad weather off the coast of Sicily. Italy's interior minister Matteo Salvini said on January 27 he was gathering legal evidence against the crew of the Dutch-flagged rescue ship as calls grew for 47 migrants to be allowed to land. (Photo by FEDERICO SCOPPA / AFP)

Italian Member of Parliament Stefania Prestigiacomo (r) meets with migrants after boarding the Dutch-flagged rescue vessel Sea Watch 3, along with other MPs and the mayor of Syracuse, to meet with 47 migrants and verify the situation onboard, on January 27, 2019 off Syracuse, Sicily. - Members of parliament who had been refused permission by the ministry to board the Sea Watch 3 made their own way onto the vessel which has taken shelter from bad weather off the coast of Sicily. Italy's interior minister Matteo Salvini said on January 27 he was gathering legal evidence against the crew of the Dutch-flagged rescue ship as calls grew for 47 migrants to be allowed to land. (Photo by FEDERICO SCOPPA / AFP)

Italian politicians on a dinghy near Sea Watch 3 on January 27, 2019 off Syracuse, Sicily. Photo: AFP

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Dutch-flagged Sea Watch 3 was finally given permission to anchor in Catania after six other countries agreed to take them in


Dutch-flagged Sea Watch 3 was finally given permission to anchor in Catania after six other countries agreed to take them in.


Boat carrying 47 migrants land in Sicily as ship crew faces uncertain fate

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Dutch-flagged Sea Watch 3 was finally given permission to anchor in Catania after six other countries agreed to take them in

Dutch-flagged Sea Watch 3 was finally given permission to anchor in Catania after six other countries agreed to take them in