He will only turn eight months old on May 8 but has already had to survive a shipwreck at his young age. Despite this, Ismail is a happy child: he smiles at everyone around him - even at people he doesn't know, like the police officers who helped take care of him when he arrived in Italy on April 29.

Agrigento adjunct deputy police chief Francesco Sammartino, who manages operations at the local hotspot, said that coast guard and police officers were extremely moved by the boy's story, bringing him milk, diapers and toys.

After an incredible show of support following his arrival, Ismail was eventually placed under the care of a doctor who works for the emergency services of Palermo.

"We are left with the satisfaction and internal growth awarded by the innocent and sincere smile of Ismail for whom, as a country, we work to offer a life of dignity and rights," Agrigento police chief Emanuele Ricifari said.

The compassionate face of Sicily

Ismail's mother went missing after the seven-metre-long boat on which she was travelling capsized and sank after departing from Sfax.

The Italian coast guard managed to rescue 46 people, including 13 women and seven minors, from the shipwreck. But three others, including the child's mother, disappeared and drowned.

Sicily Governor Renato Schifani meanwhile thanked everyone for taking care of Ismail: "Their gesture of deep humanity in spite of the difficulties of the moment with a series of landings on the island, is laudable."

"Sicily is this too", he commented.

On May 2, authorities said they had managed to get in contact with the boy's father, who had been unable to board the ill-fated migrant ship, and had remained in Tunisia.