BFF-31 450 migrants stranded at sea as Italy, Malta dig heels in

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BFF-31

EUROPE-MIGRANTS-ITALY-MALTA

450 migrants stranded at sea as Italy, Malta dig heels in

ROME, July 14, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Another 450 migrants on board two Frontex
vessels were stranded at sea on Saturday as Italy and Malta locked horns over
whose responsibility it was to offer them safe harbour.

The migrants had initially set sail from Libya in a single wooden vessel
which was identified early Friday while passing through waters under Malta’s
jurisdiction.

But Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who has authority
over the country’s ports, on Friday refused to let them dock in his latest
show of intransigence over migrants stranded at sea.

And on Saturday, as those on board were transferred to two vessels
belonging to the EU border agency Frontex, he insisted they be instructed to
“head south, to Libya or Malta”.

“We need an act of justice, of respect and of courage to fight against
these human traffickers and generate a European intervention,” he said in
talks with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, his remarks carried by Italian news
agencies.

Cited by the Italian media, cabinet sources said Conte was going to push
for them to be immediately transferred to other European countries, otherwise
they would not be allowed to land.

In an exchange of messages, emails and phone calls on Friday, Rome had
tried to push Valetta to take responsibility for those on board the wooden
boat.

But Malta said the ship was much closer to the Italian island of Lampedusa,
and on Saturday, insisted it had respected “all of its obligations under
international conventions” concerning those rescued at sea.

– Jumping overboard –

On Saturday morning, as the two Frontex vessels approached the wooden boat,
several migrants threw themselves overboard, prompting immediate efforts to
rescue them from the water, Italian sources said.

Eight women and children were taken to Lampedusa for medical treatment.

The new standoff kicked in just hours after 67 migrants were allowed to
disembark from an Italian coast guard ship in Sicily late on Thursday.

Salvini, who took office when Italy’s new populist government came to power
on June 1, wants to block any further migrant arrivals by boat and has banned
charity rescue ships from docking in Italian ports, accusing them of aiding
human traffickers.

Last month, the French rescue ship Aquarius and the German boat Lifeline,
who between them were carrying hundreds of migrants, were forced to divert to
Spain and Malta respectively after Italy turned them away.

Italy, Greece and Spain have been on the front line of the migrant crisis,
with Europe deeply divided over how to share the burden of the massive influx
of people seeking to create a new life in Europe.

BSS/AFP/ARS/1902 hrs