174 men, 27 women and 56 minors (of which 26 are unaccompanied) arrived in Salerno on October 09 on the Geo Barents, where they were received by the Prefect of Salerno, Francesco Esposito and the Mayor of Salerno, Vincenzo Napoli, among others.

"With the Civil Protection, the State Police, the local social services of Salerno, and all interested parties, we are at the dock to facilitate disembarking operations and to enable the quickest distribution of migrants possible," the mayor said.

"We do our job with spirit of solidarity and humanity, which I believe sets our Municipality and our citizens apart."

The Prefect of Salerno, Francesco Esposito, highlighted that "(a) part of the migrants will be sent outside the region with a plan to share migrant arrivals as devised by the Italian Ministry of the Interior, while another part of the migrants will stay in the region of Campania."

Medical attention required

There were several cases of scabies registered among the migrants, which are being treated by medical staff. The 22 migrants with scabies were the first ones to disembark from the ship.

Several of the women on board were also reported to have suffered abuse.

"This topic is delicate, and we will face it with psychologists and mediators who have already been informed," explained the Councilor for Social Policies of the Municipality of Salerno, Paola de Roberto.

"We set-up not one but two emergency structures because they let us know this was a problem in terms of shelter for women," she added.

The migrants were reported to hail from Syria, Egypt, Bangladesh, Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Pakistan.

Police hoping to take down smugglers

Police Commissioner Giancarlo Conticchio meanwhile said that "identifying the smugglers on board" was the main objective of law enforcement agencies.

"(Our) activities will be aimed at identifying the people who took part and enabled the clandestine migration," he added, stressing that there were multiple investigations underway among prior irregular arrivals, with those identified as smugglers "awaiting trial and in prison."