Paris and Malta to take care of some of the migrants rescued at sea | The migrant crisis

France and Malta will each take 50 of the 450 migrants transhipped on two military ships. Very quickly the offers of other European countries will arrive.

The head of government claims this success "after a day of telephone and written contacts with all 27 European leaders", saying that he reminded them of "the logic and the spirit of division contained in the conclusions of the European Council at the end of June"

M. Conte adds to this comment a copy of the letter addressed to Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, and Donald Tusk, President of the European Council.

"In this context, which sees Italy still in the front line facing the urgency of saving lives at sea, I ask you for a clear sign of shared responsibility for the management of the migratory phenomenon, and to consider the possibility of accommodating in a port or taking charge of some of the 450 people rescued, "writes Mr Conte in his letter to the other EU Heads of State or Government

This announcement seems to put an end to the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the 450 migrants since they were rescued and should be able to give them access to an Italian port

An Act of Justice

Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini first insisted that Conte insist that both ships be instructed to "sail south to Libya or Malta".

"It takes an act of justice, respect and courage to fight against the traffickers of human beings and to provoke a European intervention," said the minister, also head of the League (far right), in the morning , according to his entourage, quoted by the agencies

A wooden boat with 450 migrants on board from Libya was spotted Friday at dawn in international waters, but in the Maltese intervention zone. [19659003InanexchangeofmessagesemailsandphonecallsbetweentheauthoritiesofbothcountriesRomeonFridayattemptedtoblamethemigrantsinMalta

Valletta replied by stating that the embarcation It was much closer to the Italian island of Lampedusa than to its own territory, pointing out that the migrants did not want Maltese aid, but wanted to continue on their way to Italy.

Malta reiterated Saturday that it respected " all the obligations provided for by the international conventions "with regard to rescue at sea.

Zero tolerance

A dozen people, women and children, were transported for medical reasons to Lampedusa and other Sicilian cities.

According to Italian sources, some migrants jumped into the water when they saw the two military ships, an Italian and an Englishman participating in the European mission Frontex, thus forcing the rescue to intervene.

This situation is reminiscent of the German humanitarian ship Lifeline with its 233 migrants in on board, obliged to wait a week at sea after a standoff between Valletta and Rome, before being allowed to dock in Malta.

In office since 1 June, Matteo Salvini, who wants to reduce to zero the number of migrants arriving on the Italian coasts, decided a month ago to forbid access to Italian ports to NGOs that help migrants in the Mediterranean.

He now wants to expand this prohibition to ships of international missions in the Mediterranean, the position of Italy being to share with the EU the management of migratory flows.