‘This is my chance at a second life’, the slow and laborious aftermath of mass migrant rescue
We are standing on the huge deck of the Geo Barents rescue ship, where hundreds of people are waiting to start a new life.
The boat docked in Bari at breakfast time, pulling into the port accompanied by a police boat on one side and a coastguard vessel on the other. And about an hour later, people started disembarking.
The first were the very young, the sick and the injured. Then the rest of the children were led down.
All of them were given a temperature test at the bottom of the gangway; some were then put in the big water paper suits that we all remember from COVID. Everyone was presented with flip-flops and shoes by the Italian Red Cross.
But this disembarkation process is, unsurprisingly, slow and laborious. The Italian government wants to do everything it can to slow, and eventually reverse, the dramatic rise in migrants arriving on its shores.
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What is the Geo Barents rescue ship?
So the health examinations take time. After them come the security checks, the finger-printing and an array of other things. “Welcome to Italy, but don’t imagine we’re going to make it easy”.
Which is why, hours after the process started, there are still hundreds of people left milling around in the Geo Barents – killing time but getting gradually more frustrated, anxious and irritable.
Which makes it all the more striking when the music strikes up.
From the PA system at the front comes the strains of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. And alongside it, Mattia, one of the Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) staff, is singing along, waving his arms with gusto, imploring this room full of people to embrace opera.
At first, they look at him in some bewilderment. But then come smiles, and a few claps and before long people are on their feet applauding. Mattia, now a little sheepish, takes a bow.
It’s worked. People are now smiling and then, bustling through, comes Simon, a Belgian nurse who’s holding his trumpet. He smiles and starts playing and he plays really well. Everyone loves it.
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Aftermath of mass migrant rescue
Within 20 minutes, there is music being played through the system – I think it’s Egyptian pop – and people are dancing together. Don’t ever think that music doesn’t have the most extraordinary power.
The queue moves slowly. Hamdi, who we met in the hours after the rescue, comes and says hello. Eventually, his turn comes up and we follow his path. His friend, Elsaady, is in the group behind.
Hamdi walks up the stairs and waits to be called forward. Like everyone else, he’s wearing a surgical mask, issued by MSF but mandated by the Italian authorities, along with the clothes that were given to him when he got on the boat.
His kit included a black hat, which he wears all the time. But behind his mask, I can see he’s smiling.
He shows the MSF staff the numbered wristband given to all the survivors and they cross him off their list. And then he walks forward, out of the door and towards the gangplank
He tells me he’s happy, excited and “I feel like I’m home”. He’s a smart guy – multilingual and resourceful – and he’s researched enough to know that not everyone in Italy – or Europe – will welcome migrants like him.
“But this is my chance at a second life,” he insists. “I feel so good.”
Read more:
Who has migrated to the UK?
On board the mission to rescue 600 people from fishing boat
And with that, he’s off, down the gangplank and, as his foot touches the quay, into Europe.
The queue goes along, but always slowly. By 11pm, after more than 14 hours of disembarkation, there are still a hundred people left on board the Geo Barents. They look exhausted and so do the MSF workers.
This has been a voyage like no other – a rescue that has stretched the resources of the ship and the stamina of the MSF staff, who’ve had to care for more than 600 people by creating a makeshift refugee camp at sea.
Now, everyone is tired. It may be time to put some music on.
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s security
Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
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