More migrants evacuated from Spanish rescue ship ‘Open Arms’

Several more migrants have been taken from the rescue vessel Open Arms for medical reasons to the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Spanish charity which operates the boat said Friday.

Three people who suffered “medical complications which require specialised care” and an escort were brought ashore late on Thursday, Proactiva Open Arms, which is waiting for permission from Rome to dock in Lampedusa, said on Twitter.

All four migrants were taken to Lampedusa with the aid of the Italian coastguard, leaving 134 migrants on board the Open Arms, a Proactiva Open Arms spokeswoman said.

This was the sixth emergency evacuation of migrants from the vessel.

The mainly African migrants on board had been plucked from boats in the Mediterranean off Libya.

“All of the people on board need to disembark urgently. For humanity,” Proactiva Open Arms added on Twitter.

Six EU countries — France, Germany, Romania, Portugal, Spain and Luxembourg — have agreed to take some of the migrants stranded on the ship, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said.

But Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has continued to refuse to allow it to dock to disembark its passengers.