The Open Arms private rescue ship arrived in the Italian port of Brindisi on August 6 with 194 migrants onboard, who earlier had been rescued at sea. Among those rescued were an unspecified number of pregnant women.
On board the Open Arms were 110 men and 25 women in total -- some of whom were pregnant -- as well as 59 minors, 50 of whom were unaccompanied. Nine of the minors were under the age of 14.
The migrants came from Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Egypt, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Senegal, and Mali, according to the ANSA news agency.
They were received in Italy's Brindisi port by security forces, the civil protection, ambulance services, the Red Cross, and volunteer associations, and are expected to be transferred to several different reception centers in the regions of Puglia, Basilicata, and Campania.
New variables each time
Brindisi prefect Michela La Iacona, who was present at the port during the disembarking, said that the mechanism for dealing with such cases was "well tested, but requires new coordination every time depending on the variables on the disembarking."
The prefect thanked all the "components of the reception system" for their "warmly felt and intense participation," noting that the hospital nearby had been alerted in case any of the migrants needed medical care. However, there were no reports of emergency cases.
Maurizio Bruno, the head of the regional committee of the Puglia civil protection, said meanwhile that "for Brindisi, this is the latest in a long line of disembarkations amid recent migration flows, which was organised and carried out with the maximum level of respect for regulations and humanity."