Italy blocks second migrant boat
ITALY has turned away its second rescue boat in a week saying the 224 migrants on board will only see the country “on a postcard.”
Hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini took the stance as the Dutchflagged vessel, operated by the German aid group Mission Lifeline, headed towards the coastline.
The response comes amid a deepening row with Malta and the rest of the EU over migrant rescues after Italy’s new right-wing government refused a week ago to take in 630 migrants on the stranded rescue ship Aquarius.
Italy once again suggested Malta should accept the migrants and last night describing their rejection as “absurd” and “inhumane”.
The Italian coastguard had urged the aid group to leave rescues to Libya. But Mission Lifeline dismissed Mr Salvini’s claims and said the rescue was staged in international waters and requested a safe port.
Mr Salvini said: “For the safety of the crew and those rescued we humanly and politically ask Malta to finally open one of its ports, and then seize the ship and its crew.”
Spain, which allowed the Aquarius to dock in Valencia, again stepped in after getting in touch with Malta to offer humanitarian aid to the ship after Mr Salvini also said the migrants should be taken to the Netherlands.
Spanish minister Isabel Celaa said: “We have been in contact with Malta to offer support if humanitarian Interior minister Matteo Salvini, some of the migrants Lifeline picked up, and the rescue ship in the Med help is needed by the boat in the next few hours.”
Mission Lifeline, feared that a similar situation to the Aquarius was on the horizon. Spokesman Axel Steier called on “the competent authorities to swiftly react to their obligation to designate a place of safety”.
Since 2016, the aid group has helped to rescue 675 migrants and has been handing them out to other ships. Mr Salvini, also deputy prime minister, has previously branded the rescue ships as taxi services which finish the job for migrant smugglers. “Italian ports are no longer at the disposal of traffickers. Open the Maltese ports! Open the French ports,” he said.
He also underlined the failure of other European Union nations to take their share of migrants bound for Europe, which is the agenda Italy with Brussels. Mr Salvini also threatened to hold back EU payments if it does not get more help on the migrant issue.
Since 2014, a total of 640,000 migrants have landed in Italy but numbers this year have dropped dramatically to around 14,500 – more than 80 per cent lower than in 2017.
Two-thirds of Italians agree humanitarian boats should not be allowed in the country’s ports, according to a poll.