Italy did not allow a commercial vessel carrying an Italian flag to bring ashore rescued migrants, committing to its policy not to accept immigrants. Italy is now calling EU members to share the hosting of immigrants.
A commercial ship rescued 66 migrants on Monday, but it was not allowed to bring them to Italy, Reuters reported. The ship rescued the migrants, despite being told that Libyan patrol boats were coming to retrieve them.
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Italy’s new government has closed its ports to humanitarian ships that rescue migrants off Libya, and is not accepting migrants sent back from the German border. Namely, charity rescue vessels with foreign flags will not be allowed in Italian ports.
In the beginning of July, the humanitarian boat ‘Open Arms’, which was carrying 60 migrants, docked in Barcelona on Wednesday July 4, as it was scheduled. The ship ended up in Spain after Malta and Italy had rejected it, indicating the differences in the immigration policies of European countries.
In addition, the Dutch-flagged ship ‘Lifeline’ with about 230 rescued migrants on board for almost a week, finally docked in Malta on June 27. This development ended the dispute between Malt and Italy which refused to let the ship into one of its ports.
Finally, Malta detained another humanitarian ship on Monday July 2. The ship normally rescues boat migrants off the coast of Libya, where two shipwrecks have cost the lives of 200 people recently.
The Sea Watch 3 vessel requested to leave the port after maintenance was performed to it, but the port authority refused, Reuters reported. The port authorities mentioned that the ship’s status is currently under review.