From Guinea to Italy, he left with a brother but arrived on his own

"Bien". This is the answer given by Condè* (name changed to protect his identity), who wore a pair of socks and sandals when he got off the ship.

Condè was the youngest unaccompanied minor on board migrant-rescue vessel Geo Barents, which is operated by Doctors Without Borders. The 10-year-old is from Guinea. He left one year ago, when he was 9, together with a 17-year-old brother, pushed by parents who wanted a more dignified life for them.

Their journey lasted a long time. They crossed Niger and Algeria. Condé crossed the desert when he was 10 and then tried to cross the sea to reach Europe.

However, he was apprehended by Libyan coast guards and lived in Libyan detention centers for three weeks.

When he and he was brother got out, their parents were able to send money for just one ticket for the crossing. Condé left because he was younger and his ticket cost less. His brother decided to give him hope and let him leave to reach their older brother, who lives in France.

Members of Doctors Without Borders who took care of Condé called him "a little man, a truly responsible child who seems older than his age. Condé always remained clear headed and always helped with little tasks on board the ship. His ability to take care of himself is incredible, disconcerting, like an adult's."

Condé acts like a child when he plays with other children, when he draws, they said.

"When we found him on board a dinghy he was crying, he was scared. But then on the ship he never cried, he was independent in everything he did," explained operators. He was coddled by all crew members, especially women migrants, including many mothers who took him under their wing. Condé grew attached to them.

On Sunday, December 11, he disembarked from the Geo Barents with a bag of food in his hands. But before leaving, while still on the gangway, he looked up towards the sky. Then someone told him in French: "Welcome to Italy". And he smiled, operators said.

She lost a daughter while fleeing a violent marriage

A young mother left Cameroon to flee a violent husband. During her journey she suffered the immense pain of having to bury her young daughter. After crossing Nigeria and Niger, she arrived in Algeria, where her little girl got sick. She died after just a few days of illness, MSF said. Her pain was still to deep and raw for her to smile once she reached a safe port.

A group of very young kids arrived instead from South Sudan. They lived in camps for the displaced and experienced the pain and violence of war before they decided to search for a better life and freedom. Some of them, while trying to flee, were apprehended by Libyan coast guards and ended up in prison, the rescue crew reported.

Lombardy, Veneto, Umbria and Tuscany to welcome majority of migrants

After landing operations ended, procedures began to allow the migrants to reach the destinations assigned to them by authorities.

According to the deputy vice prefect of Salerno, Silvana D'Agostina, "the regions that will host the majority of these migrants will be Lombardy, Veneto, Umbria and Tuscany."

Unaccompanied minors, instead, will be "welcomed by the city of Taranto, while Salerno, as always welcoming and sensitive towards people who arrive after a long trip, is available to welcome 20 of them and enrol them in the SAI system" of protection for asylum seekers and refugees.

A reported 64 will go to Taranto, in Puglia, while the others will remain in Salerno, in the Campania region. Only 30 of the others will instead remain in the province of the southern city, according to official sources.

Also read: 'Torture and rape' endured by migrants on Humanity 1 ship

Fresh political controversy on migrant hosting

The arrival in Salerno, meanwhile, sparked a political controversy on immigration. Franco Mari, a lawmaker of the Alliance of Greens and the Italian Left, who was at the port when the migrants arrived, said "it isn't possible to stop landings, we should instead thank NGOs for what they are doing while the government and the minister are continuing to see them as an adversary; we believe this is absolutely wrong."

He went on to say that his presence was also aimed at expressing solidarity to the ship of Doctors Without Borders".

Solidarity was also expressed to the new anti-racist forum of Salerno, represented by the unionist Anselmo Botte. "We can't understand the wickedness of this government, we don't understand why these ships should travel until Salerno," noted the unionist, referring to the fact that the Campania port city is further up north.

"Migrants could have easily disembarked in Sicily and then be distributed by bus," said Botte. "It was useless cruelty to make them travel till here, also considering the conditions of the sea," he denounced.