Portugal Colonial - Migrant ships wait at Italian port for entry as another appeals to France

Nearly 500 migrants are in limbo after being rescued by three different charity ships during their perilous crossing from North Africa to Italy's shores.

Two of the ships -- the Geo Barents and Humanity 1 -- docked at the weekend at Sicily's eastern port of Catania, disembarking about 500 of the most vulnerable migrants.

But Italian authorities told them to keep approximately 250 others and head back to sea.

After appealing to Italy since October 27 for a secure port, a third ship, the Ocean Viking, said Tuesday it was leaving Sicilian waters and heading towards France with 234 migrants onboard.

"Facing the silence of Italy and the exceptionality of the situation, the Ocean Viking has now escalated her request for a Place of Safety in France," said the group, run by European charity SOS Mediterranee under a Norwegian flag.

"We expect the Ocean Viking to arrive in international waters close to Corsica the 10th of November," it said in a statement.

The handling of the migrant ships is a first test for Italy's new far-right government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has vowed to stop the tens of thousands of migrants who land on the country's shores every year.

Earlier Tuesday, a fourth boat successfully disembarked all its 89 migrants at the port of Reggio Calabria at the toe of Italy.

The migrants from the Rise Above, operated by German humanitarian group Mission Lifeline, were "almost all minors", a government source explained to AFP.

- 'Selective and discriminatory' -

Rights groups have challenged an Italian decree that permitted the Geo Barents and Humanity 1 -- operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and SOS Humanity, respectively -- to dock only for the time it took to help emergency migrant cases, calling it illegal.

SOS Mediterranee said on Tuesday the choice of which migrants to allow to disembark those ships was "selective and discriminatory".

The psychological strain of waiting was taking its toll on the remaining migrants, MSF's chief of mission, Juan Matias Gil, told reporters at the Catania port.

"No one can deal with this, at any level," Gil said. "They can really feel it and their anxiety grows every day."

On Monday, migrants held an impromptu protest from the stern of the Geo Barents, holding up signs and chanting "Help us"!

Two Syrians who subsequently jumped into the water before being pulled out spent the night on the dock.

"They spent the entire night in the open on the pier refusing water and food this morning," said MSF in a statement.

- Exhaustion and worse -

Migrants allowed to disembark from the Rise Above Tuesday were suffering from seasickness and exhaustion, Mission Lifeline said, while six people had been evacuated earlier after being deemed medical emergencies.

Ships chartered by non-government organisations regularly pick up migrants from overcrowded boats seeking to cross from North Africa to Europe.

However, their passengers accounted for only 14 percent of the more than 87,000 people who have landed in Italy so far this year, according to the interior ministry.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said Monday the government is acting "with humanity but firmly based on our principles".

Piantedosi said he was working at a national and European Union level to reduce the burden on Italy after years of complaints from Rome that the bloc was not doing enough.

N.Esteves--PC