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WATCH: Desperate Migrants Jump Ship To Reach Lampedusa After Salvini Promises To Block Ships Sailing Between Malta

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A Norwegian-flagged ship operated by French humanitarians Ocean Viking has been transporting 356 rescued migrants between Malta, Lampedusa and Linosa awaiting confirmation of an assigned port to dock in. As a result of high tensions onboard another ship after the Italian Deputy Prime Minister vowed to block them both on Sunday, migrants began to leap into the water and swim towards land.

The Spanish rescue boat thwarted their efforts after the Italian government shut down their request to drop anchor. The founder of Migrant Rescue service Open Arms, Oscar Camps, posted this video showing four migrants in orange vests swimming towards the island of Lampedusa.

Camps had blasted the Italian embargo on Twitter, saying, “What more does Matteo Salvini need for his political campaign? Deaths? We cannot contain the desperation any longer.”

Crew members from the boat swam out to stop the migrants from reaching land after Open Arms had requested permission to enter the port and let the migrants off safely following a statement saying the psychological and physical conditions of those on board were “at risk”.

Initially, there were a total of 147 migrants on board when the vessel entered Italian waters, but in the last few days, around 40 of them had been transferred by coast guards to Lampedusa, including those who were suffering the worst from their conditions with 27 of them reportedly minors who claimed otherwise after reaching land.

The migrants have all spent a large portion of their time recently in Libyan detention camps, affected by sexual abuse and inhumane torturing after their families have forked over life savings to smugglers and traffickers for the opportunity to escape the current state of their home country.

Spain had opened up the ports in Algeciras to the boat, but Oscar Camps had said the journey there would only worsen the tensions on board and that the extra time necessary to reach the Bay of Gibraltar was unwarranted when there were plenty of areas closer to their current position.

READ NEXT: AFM Rescues 216 Migrants Off The Coast Of Malta

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