Malta, Italy, in fresh tussle over migrants
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Updated 9.42pm with more details - A fresh controversy has erupted between Malta and Italy over who should assume responsibility for 171 migrants picked up by the Italian Coast Guard after they refused help by Maltese rescuers. Italian Interior Minister MatteMalta, Italy, in fresh tussle over migrants
Updated 9.42pm with more details - A fresh controversy has erupted between Malta and Italy over who should assume responsibility for 171 migrants picked up by the Italian Coast Guard after they refused help by Maltese rescuers. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini late on Wednesday said that Malta should take the migrants since they sailed through Malta's rescue zone but were ignored by the Maltese authorities despite being in difficulty. The migrants, however, were subsequently picked uo by the Italian coastguard vessel Diciotti. Malta retorted on Thursday that the boat was not in distress, it had a right of passage, and the migrants were picked up closer to the Italian island of Lempedusa than Malta itself. The government explained that the boat had refused assistance from a Maltese patrol boat which had monitored it while it was in transit through the Malta search and rescue zone. «The migrants insisted that they did not require assistance and wanted to continue heading to their intended final destination, namely Italy. Hence the AFM continued to monitor the boat to fulfil a duty for care.» If the Italian authorities considered the event as a search and rescue case,... Read more