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Italy and Malta vie again on the responsibility of a floating refugee ship in the Mediterranean. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said that it would not allow the ship, with more than 400 people on board, to dock in an Italian port. "Malta, smugglers and slackers should know that this ship is not going to berth here," wrote the leader of the far-right Lega party on Facebook.
The Valetta Government, however, baderted that the vessel was closer to Italy than to Maltese territory. In addition, people prefer to travel to Italy on board. According to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the boat had alerted the authorities in Rome on Friday morning that he had on board miners who "needed urgent help". However, at that time the ship was in Maltese waters.
The two southern states of Europe have repeatedly pleaded responsibility for refugee vessels in recent weeks. Last month, Malta berthed the refugee rescue ship Lifeline with 234 people on board. A few days ago, Italy and Malta had rejected the rescue vessel Aquarius with 630 refugees on board, so that he had to be redirected to Spain.
Salvini wants to reduce to zero the number of refugees arriving in Italy. In June he had decided that ships badisting refugees on board should no longer be allowed to dock in Italian ports. Italy is the main destination for refugees entering the EU from Africa via the Mediterranean.
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