Ships like Allegra have been chartered by the Italian government and operated by the Italian Red Cross during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cruise ferries typically used for a luxury vacation were repurposed as holding pens for migrants, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, to quarantine in an effort to keep the coronavirus offshore. Many migrants feared deportation once their quarantine ended, as Italy typically rejects claims for asylum without proof of conflict or persecution, rather than poverty.
Paolo Pellegrin photographed the Allegra and it's quarantined migrant passengers on assignment for...