Police on Thursday arrested a Senegalese and a Gambian man, both aged 20 on suspicion of human trafficking after 116 migrants came ashore in Sicily from an Italian coastguard ship following a week-long standoff with the European Union over their fate.
The 116 migrants were disembarked at the Sicilian port of Augusta and taken to a reception and identification centre in Pozzallo. The migrants were allowed to disembark after five EU countries and several Italian dioceses agreed to take them.
The Bruno Gregoretti coastguard ship was given permission to dock but not to disembark in the Sicilian port of Augusta last weekend with 131 people on board. Fifteen of the most vulnerable migrants including pregnant women and children were allowed off the boat.
Italian coastguard rescued the migrants from boats in the Mediterranean last week.
