German aid ship brings 53 migrants to Italy, including six children

The German aid organization Sea-Watch has rescued 53 migrants found in distress in the central Mediterranean, it said on Monday.

The group's ship docked with the migrants in the harbour of Brindisi, a city on the Adriatic coast in the southern Italian region of Apulia.

According to a Sea-Watch spokeswoman, the rescued people included six children, five of whom were unaccompanied; the youngest was only 14 months old. The people came from Sudan and South Sudan.

Their rubber dinghy was overcrowded, badly damaged and lacked fuel, rescue equipment and drinking water. Many were suffering from exhaustion, seasickness and dehydration.

However, all the migrants were brought safely ashore, the spokeswoman said.

A second German rescue group, Sea-Eye, faced challenges by authorities as it tried to bring migrants to safety on its own ship on Sunday.

After rescuing 65 people from a rubber dinghy off the coast of Libya, the Italian authorities assigned the distant port of Taranto in Apulia as the destination - despite three medical emergencies and a shortage of supplies on board.

Sea-Eye then requested support from the Foreign Office in Berlin and the German Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Bremen.

After several hours, the Italian authorities relented and allowed the ship to enter the nearby port of Pozzallo in Sicily.

Italy is one of the countries particularly affected by the migration across the Mediterranean.

Various organizations such as Sea-Watch and Sea-Eye have been working for years to rescue refugees on the dangerous route. This has led to repeated conflicts with the authorities.