Italy Says Malta Refuses To Take Migrant Ship As EU Immigration Row Escalates

Italy has attacked Malta for refusing to take in a ship of migrants.

Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli shared a photo of an email by the Maltese Armed Forces saying the vessel "has not manifested any distress".

Mr Toninelli called the decision (in Italian) "inhumane" and "absurd".

The Lifeline, carrying 226 migrants rescued from the sea near the Libyan coast, is one of two ships operated by German NGO Mission Lifeline that the Italians have vowed to impound.

They are accused of "illegally" flying the Dutch flag.

The planned seizure of the Lifeline comes amid a deepening row over migrant rescues after Italy's new populist government refused earlier this month to take in a stranded rescue ship (Aquarius) carrying 629 migrants.

The Aquarius eventually sailed to Spain after it was also turned away by Malta.

Leaders from 10 EU member states will meet in Brussels on tomorrow to discuss how best to stem the flow of migrants to the bloc.

The Italian government has said it will not sign up to any EU plan unless it makes helping Italy a priority, while Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary - known as the Visegrad Group - say they will boycott the talks.

Italy's government wants to deport half a million undocumented migrants, many of whom are housed in squalid reception centres. More than 600,000 have reached Italy from Libya in the past four years.


(BBC)



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