Page 8 - ARUBA TODAY

A8 WORLD NEWS
Monday 11 June 2018

Migrants are saved, but stranded at sea by Italian politics

By FRANCES D'EMILIO thy boats Saturday night, prehending the situation,"
ROME (AP) — A private including 123 unaccom- rebuffed him, Conte said in
rescue ship carrying 629 panied minors and seven a Facebook post late Sun-
migrants remained at sea pregnant women. day. That stance "confirms
Sunday evening after more The Aquarius and its pas- the latest unwillingness of
than a day of not receiving sengers were caught up Malta and, thus, of Europe,
permission to dock in either in a crackdown promoted to intervene and take care
Italy or the small Mediter- by the right-wing partner in of the emergency."
ranean island nation of Italy's new populist govern- Like Malta, Italy didn't ap-
Malta. ment, which has vowed to pear to be budging.
Aid group SOS Mediterra- stop the country from be- Italy's firebrand interior min-
neee said the passengers coming the "refugee camp ister, Matteo Salvini, who
on its ship, the Aquarius, of Europe." leads the anti-immigrant
included 400 people who Italian Premier Giuseppe League party in the gov-
were picked up by the Conte said he personally erning coalition, has long
Italian navy, that country's contacted Malta's prime railed against what he de-
coast guard and private minister, Joseph Muscat, to picts as Europe's failure to
cargo ships and trans- "explicitly at least take on show solidarity with Italy
ferred. The rescue ship's the human assistance of during the migrant crisis in
crew itself pulled 229 mi- persons in difficulty aboard recent years.
grants from the water or the Aquarius." "Starting today, Italy, too,
from traffickers' unseawor- But Muscat, "while com- begins to say NO to the

Migrants disembark at the Reggio Calabria harbor, Southern
Italy, Saturday, June 9, 2018.
Associated Press

trafficking of human be- cued on the NGO ship
ings, NO to the business of Aquarius."
clandestine immigration," "The island can't continue
Salvini tweeted Sunday. to turn the other way," the
After leading an hours-long ministers said. "The Mediter-
meeting with his coalition ranean is the sea of all the
leaders Sunday night at countries that face it, and it
the premier's office, Conte (Malta) can't imagine that
said Italy was sending two Italy will continue to face
motorboats with medical this giant phenomenon in
staff aboard in case the mi- solitude."
grants needed help but he Earlier, Malta said in a state-
made no mention of how ment that the Aquarius
the Aquarius might ever took on the passengers in
get into port. waters controlled by Libya
Salvini and Italian Trans- and where Italian authori-
portation Minister Danilo ties in Rome coordinate
Toninelli, who is part of the search-and-rescue opera-
5-Star Movement faction in tions.
the new government, said The Maltese Rescue Coor-
in a joint statement Sunday dination Center "is neither
that it was Malta's respon- the competent nor the co-
sibility to "open its ports for ordinating authority," the
the hundreds of the res- statement said.q