CATANIA - After days of waiting in the port of Catania for orders, the Italian Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, has permitted the minors on board the Diciotti to set food on Italian ground.  

 The decision comes after numerous appeals were made to the minister, including that of the Prosecutor for minors of the court of Catania, who had sent an official request.

 Twenty-six youths have been let off the ship, leaving 148 adults on board with no idea of where they will end up. The children were met on the quay by a huge crowd: Save the Children, UNHCR, ambulances, harbourmasters, the police and the Carabinieri.

 Meanwhile, tensions between the Interior Minister and the president of the Chamber, Roberto Fico, are on the rise. It was Fico who intervened and demanded for the disembarking of the Diciotti.

 “I work just fine with Luigi Di Maio. But they have a lot of problems amongst their party members: in particular, the president of the Chamber quite often does the exact opposite of the intentions of the party. But that’s their problem” said Salvini in an Rtl interview.

 With the arrival of the 26 youths seemingly breaking Salvini’s hard-line closed ports policy, he has insisted that this will not change his line: “My ultimate objective is to copy the Australian ‘No Way’ policy. Not one single migrant rescued at sea is allowed to set foot in Australia.”

 “If any more public prosecutors have a problem with my policy, I’m ready and open to explain my reasons to them.”

 “If the President of the Republic or the President of the Council was to intervene in my policy, they can do what they want, but it’ll be without my consent.”

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