Human Trafficking: 600 migrants, 123 minors, pregnant women stranded on Mediterranean sea

A ship carrying more than 600 rescued migrants, including 123 unaccompanied minors and seven pregnant women, remained stranded in the Mediterranean Sea on Monday after Italy’s new populist government refused permission for it to dock the day before, CNN reports.

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s hardline interior minister and leader of the anti-immigration League party, called on the country to “close the ports” and pledged Sunday to “STOP the filthy business of illegal immigration.”

The boat has been stranded between Malta and the Italian island of Sicily since Sunday, when the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center told Aquarius to hold its current position, according to MSF.

The ship is equipped for only around 550 people, according to Aloys Vimard, project coordinator on the Aquarius. Speaking to Spanish public radio broadcaster RNE Monday, Vimard said that on-board food supplies would last only one more day.

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A number of passengers are in need of medical treatment, MSF tweeted, adding that 15 have serious chemical burns and several others have hypothermia.

None of those rescued are aware of the “ongoing diplomatic standoff,” MSF tweeted Monday, calling for “a swift resolution and a designated port of safety.”