(ANSA) – PALERMO, 08 APR – “They were in poor health conditions and the prolongation of their stay on board the Open Arms represented a high risk factor for the worsening of the mental and physical health of migrants, in the sense of an aggravation of present or the onset of new ones “. This is how the former medical director of the Licata hospital, Vincenzo Asaro, describes the state in which he found the migrants rescued in the Strait of Sicily by the ship of the Spanish NGO Open Arms in August 2019. Asaro, who testifies at the trial for kidnapping and refusal of official documents against the Northern League leader Matteo Salvini, accused of illegally denying the landing to the refugees, he made a check on board the boat on the orders of the Prosecutor of Agrigento. Salvini is present at the deposition that takes place before the court of Palermo in the bunker room of the Ucciardone prison.
“The conditions of the migrants – he added – represented a risk for the safety of the same and of the navigation personnel”. The witness also described the ship’s general state. “We found them on the deck, there were more than a hundred – he said – the women were in the center. They took shelter under a roof. There were two small squat toilets and a galley, the migrants slept lying on the deck there was no alternative .
They had no soaps or detergents and used sea water that was desalinated. When we did the inspection there was a pile of waste. “The doctor did not carry out health checks on individual refugees, but speaking with the doctor on board he learned that many had skin affections, probably scabies, urinary tract infections, abdominal pain. , vomiting. ”Several refugees would later show wounds and injuries to the doctor.
“They were in very precarious conditions – he explained – it is likely that they did not even have the opportunity to change their underwear.
We tried to get close to me to tell me about their health problems. We are talking about people in conditions of serious discomfort – she concluded – We felt a feeling of great sadness seeing them. They were in a state of lack of everything “. (ANSA).
Source: Ansa
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