It's beginning!
Italy's new interior minister threatened to bar rescue ships from docking in the country's ports after Malta refused to take hundreds of migrants, reports say. Matteo Salvini sent a letter to the Maltese authorities saying he would 'be forced to close Italy's ports' if the 629 migrants saved by the French charity SOS Mediterranee weren't allowed to land at Malta's capital Valletta. SOS Mediterranee said the passengers on its ship, the Aquarius, included 400 people who were picked up by the Italian navy, the country's coastguard and private cargo ships and transferred.
The rescue ship's crew pulled 229 migrants from the water or from traffickers' unseaworthy boats on Saturday night, including 123 unaccompanied children and seven pregnant women. 'Our sole objective is to bring the people we've rescued, in difficult conditions yesterday, to a port of safety,' the group said in a statement.
Leader of the anti-migrant League party Mr Salvini, also deputy prime minister, tweeted yesterday: 'Starting today, Italy, too, begins to say NO to the trafficking of human beings, NO to the business of clandestine immigration'.
The aid group said in a statement it had taken 'good note' of Mr Salvini's stance, as reported earlier by Italian media. It added that the Aquarius 'is still waiting for definitive instructions regarding the port of safety'.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... women.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44432056
(BBC)
He said on Sunday that Italy was saying "no to human trafficking, no to the business of illegal immigration".
"Malta takes in nobody," he said. "France pushes people back at the border, Spain defends its frontier with weapons."
"It is not possible for Malta to say 'no' to every request for help. The Good Lord put Malta closer than Sicily to Africa."
Last week, Mr Salvini said Rome should increase its deportations of migrants and the Italian government also wants to relocate asylum seekers EU-wide - a scheme already rejected by some member states.
Mr Salvini says he is considering action against organisations rescuing migrants at sea. He has previously accused them of being in cahoots with people-smugglers.
The government's critics say its plan to repatriate migrants is unworkable and risks fomenting racism and politicising a humanitarian issue. A controversial deal between Italy's former government and authorities in Libya has led to a drop in overall arrivals since last summer but Italian officials say 13,500 migrants have been registered so far this year.
Mr Salvini earlier accused the Maltese government of not doing its fair share when another rescue ship, the Seefuchs, was stranded in volatile seas with 126 migrants on board. Malta reportedly refused to send assistance to the vessel and it was allowed to dock in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo on Saturday, the non-governmental organisation Sea Watch reported. Malta's government insisted it had adhered to all its obligations regarding immigration.
Thoughts?
I think this is a good first step by a frontline country (bar Turkey, for ulterior motives) to stem the flow of clandestine immigration into Europe.
