Migrants in limbo again after landing in Italy

Eighty-three migrants who disembarked on Italy's Lampedusa island were again in limbo on Wednesday as a European deal to redistribute them failed to materialise and Madrid said it could hit the Spanish charity with a hefty fine for rescuing them.

The prospect of a fine comes after a protracted standoff between the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms and Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini finally came to an end.

The boat had spent six days anchored off Lampedusa before a local prosecutor ordered the migrants be allowed to land amid a probe of Salvini for forbidding their entry to port.

Many of them had spent 19 days on board the ship after being picked up while in difficulty trying to make the perilous journey from Libya to Europe in small boats.

As they walked down the gang plank one by one to the island's shore overnight, some could be seen limping or in bandages. Salvini, whose Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned in protest at the
Salvini hit back on Facebook about the decision to let the migrants off the boat, saying: "If anybody thinks they can scare me with the umpteenth complaint and wants a trial, they're mistaken."