Italy and Malta have repeatedly pleaded responsibility for refugee vessels in recent weeks. Italy wants the other EU member states to participate in rescuing the lives of rescued people.
(dpa) Italy listened to the difficult course on the issue of migration with EU partners. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced Saturday night on Facebook that Malta and France had agreed to accept 50 of the 450 migrant survivors who had been stranded for hours on two military ships in the Mediterranean. They had taken a wooden boat on the shores of the Italian islands.
"The commitments of other European countries are coming soon," says Conte. The agreements with Malta and France came "after a day of telephone and written contacts with 27 European heads of state and government," said Conte. He reminded them of the "logic and the spirit of sharing the conclusions" of the European summit at the end of June. Italy had insisted that other member countries take more refugees from the country to the external border of Europe and participate in the absorption of the lives of the survivors.
A migrant looks from his tent on July 12, which was provided by the Baobab Aid Organization in Rome. (Photo: Yara Nardi / Reuters)
Tale added a letter to the communication addressed to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, to the President of the Council of the EU, Donald Tusk, and to all Heads of State and Government. He said that since Italy is "always at the forefront" of the rescue of the people of the sea, he called for "a clear signal" for a burden-sharing in the EU and a willingness "d & # 39; Consider the possibility of being part of the EU ". Italy does not want it
Italy refused to let the boat into a port, but ordered Saturday the rescue of the migrants. Earlier, the Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who also runs the far-right party Lega, asked the Italian media at a meeting with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to dismiss the refugees.
It takes an act of justice, respect and courage to fight the traffickers, "Salvini reportedly said during the meeting with Conte
Frontex intervenes
Already Friday, Rome had brought the Maltese government to want to have the wooden boat overloaded with him.But Malta argued that the ship was closer to Italian than Maltese territory.In addition, people would prefer to enter Italy on board.
The border guards of Frontex rescued the refugees from the wooden boat on Saturday and distributed them to their two ships, and eight women and children were transported to the Italian island of Lampedusa for treatment.
Under international law, Migrants can not be sent back to places where their lives are in danger The United Nations and the EU have declared that Libya is not sure Salvini had therefore urged the Ministers of the Interior from the EU to the meeting in Innsbruck, the country of North Africa to declare a safe place.
The two countries of southern Europe Italy and Malta have several times in recent weeks, the responsibility of refugee vessels
Migrants leave the rescue ship "Aquarius" in January 2018, which is operated by the SOS Mediterranean and Doctors Without Borders organizations. (Image: Antonio Parrinello / Reuters, archive)
Last month, Malta had to welcome the Lifeline refugee support vessel with 234 people on board. A few days ago, Italy and Malta had rejected the rescue vessel "Aquarius" with 630 refugees on board, so 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 assisting refugees on board should no longer be allowed to dock in Italian ports. Italy is the main destination for refugees arriving in the EU via the Mediterranean from Africa.
Return of Libya
According to Federica Mogherini, External Representative of the EU, some 20,000 migrants have received international support in recent months voluntarily returned from Libya to their homeland. Mr Mogherini, who visited Libya on Saturday, opened an EU office and an EU Border Assistance Mission. The EU is the largest donor of humanitarian aid and the largest supporter of UN programs and the country's main economic partner, she said.
Chaotic conditions have reigned in Libya since the overthrow of leader Muammar al-Ghadhafi in 2011, and the internationally recognized government has little power in the country. This is another reason why the country is the starting point for thousands of migrants seeking a route across the Mediterranean to Europe.
