More than 500 refugees arrive in Italy as rescue ships dock

Italy, which has vowed a tough line on immigration, took in more than 500 refugees as two charity rescue ships were allowed to dock at ports in the south after several days at sea in bad weather.

The Geo Barents ship, operated by the Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) charity and which had 248 refugees on board, arrived in Salerno in the southwestern region of Campania on Sunday, MSF said.

On the other side of the country, the Humanity 1, another rescue vessel run by the charity SOS Humanity, on board of which there were 261 refugees, docked in the port city of Bari after the Italian authorities agreed to grant it permission.