Migrants rescued by Banksy ship brought to Italy

An Italian coastguard patrol ship arrived at the port of Lampedusa late on Saturday carrying 49 migrants and a deceased person.

Among the arrivals were 32 women, 13 children and four men, the most vulnerable of survivors who had been rescued last week from the Mediterranean Sea by the MV Louise Michel, a rescue boat painted and funded by renowned street artist, Banksy.

The Louise Michel has picked up several groups of migrants in recent days in the central Mediterranean in what appeared to be its maiden rescue voyage.

In a series of tweets over the past few days, the boat's crew has strongly criticized the European Union over its migration policy, saying they contacted both Italian and Maltese coastguards seeking a port, but received no response.

The tone of the tweets has grown more alarmist in the past 48 hours after the crew reported that the boat was becoming dangerously overcrowded, was essentially stranded and that they were urgently seeking a port to disembark the passengers to avoid further loss of life.

European nations were urged also by the UN refugee agency on Saturday to let in hundreds of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean Sea by humanitarian boats - including the one sponsored by Banksy.

The UNHCR and the International Organization of Migration said more than 200 rescued refugees and migrants needed to immediately get off the nonprofit search-and-rescue ship MV Louise Michel, which they said was “currently far beyond its safe carrying capacity.”