Italy has let 116 stranded migrants disembark from a coastguard ship after five EU countries agreed to sharing responsibility for them.
The men were forced to remain on the boat docked in Sicily for five days before far-right minister Matteo Salvini gave authorisation for them to disembark.
An EU Commission spokeswoman told AFP that France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Portugal would join the Italian Roman Catholic Church in caring for the migrants.