Charity ship with 35 migrants refuses to leave Italian port

By COLLEEN BARRY and SALVATORE CAVALLI
Associated Press

CATANIA, Sicily (AP) — The captain of a charity-operated migrant rescue ship has refused Italian orders to leave a Sicilian port after authorities refused to let 35 migrants disembark. It’s all part of the hardline directives by Italy’s new far-right-led government targeting foreign-flagged rescue ships.  The Humanity 1 was ordered to vacate the port of Catania on Sunday after disembarking 144 rescued migrants. They included women with children, more than 100 unaccompanied minors and people with medical emergencies. The Germany charity that operates the vessel said the captain refused “until all survivors rescued from distress at sea have been disembarked.” Another ship with 572 rescued migrants arrived at the port for the same vetting process, and two others are still at sea.