Germany to accept 50 rescued migrants after Italy's plea



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MILAN / BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany will take 50 out of 450 migrants in Italy on the same day.

Migrants, intercepted aboard two dinghies off the coast in the Strait of Gibraltar, wait on a boat to disembark after arriving at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain July 15, 2018. REUTERS / Jon Nazca

France and Malta Frontex and a vessel owned by Italy on the Italian side of Italy, more than 100 nautical miles of Malta.

Other EU countries were set to follow after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte sent letters to the heads of the state and other governments.

"Germany and Italy have agreed, in view of the ongoing talks on closer bilateral cooperation on asylum, Germany is ready to accept 50 people in this case," the German government spokeswoman said on Sunday.

Malta had rejected pressure from Rome on Friday to rescue them, but said on Saturday it was ready to host 50 asylum seekers. France will take another 50, Conte said in a message posted on his Facebook profile.

Conte said Italy would host some of the victims.

Migrants, intercepted aboard two dinghies off the coast in the Strait of Gibraltar, wait on a boat to disembark after arriving at the port of Tarifa, southern Spain July 15, 2018. REUTERS / Jon Nazca

The Czech Republic , however, refused the request.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis tweeted that the country would not accept any of the 450 asylum seekers.

Babis called the Italian approach a "road to hell" and "reiterated" that they should be stopped and that they should be helped by the European Union.

Before other EU Member States agreed to accept some of the migrants, Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who was leading a high-profile campaign to feel back to Libya.

Under international law, refugees can not be returned to a place where their lives are in danger. Both the United Nations and Libya are not safe.

A spokesman for Libya 's coastguard said Libya would not take in migrants from other countries.

"No, we will not accept any illegal migrants after they are rescued by rescue ships …," the spokesman, Ayob Qbadem, told Reuters on Saturday.

Reporting by Francesca Landini, additional reporting by Paul Carrel in Berlin, Robert Muller in Prague, Aidan Lewis in Tunis, Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; Editing by Susan Fenton

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