Stranded ship to dock in Malta, Italy says
GERMAN CHARITY VESSEL LIFELINE RESCUED THE 234 MIGRANTS
Arescue ship stranded in the Mediterranean with more than 200 migrants on board will finally dock in Malta, Italy said yesterday, as EU states remained at loggerheads over how to handle the influx of people trying to reach the continent.
The German charity vessel Lifeline rescued the 234 migrants, including children and pregnant women, last Thursday but Malta and Italy initially refused to take it in.
“I just got off the phone with [Maltese] president [Joseph] Muscat: the NGO ship Lifeline will dock in Malta,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said, without specifying when.
“Italy will do its part and welcome some of the migrants who are on board the Lifeline”, said Conte.
He expressed hope “other European countries would do the same”, but did not reveal how many migrants Italy would take. French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux earlier told RTL radio that “a European solution seems to be emerging”.
A spokesman for the Maltese government had added: “There are ongoing discussions among a number of EU member states to take a share of the migrants.”
‘Ready to help’
The decision by Italy’s new hardline government and Malta to turn away migrant rescue vessels has plunged Europe into a political crisis over how to collectively handle the hundreds of people fleeing war and misery in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Griveaux insisted there was no migrant “crisis” but urged leaders “to respond quickly to an urgent situation”.
“France is ready to send a team on site to process (asylum) requests on a case-by-case basis,” as it did for migrants aboard the Aquarius once it docked in Spain after also being spurned by Italy and Malta.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Madrid would take part in a “joint response” over Lifeline, but insisted that “several countries must participate”.