The proper role of government…
‘They can forget about arriving at Italian port’: Hardline Italian interior minister vows to turn away ANOTHER migrant ship as feud flares up a day after Merkel’s face-saving deal
The vessel, run by Spanish humanitarian group Proactiva Open Arms, rescued the migrants, including five women, a nine-year-old child and three teenagers, off the coast of Libya. Mr Salvini claimed the boat should go to Malta, the nearest port.
But Malta swiftly pushed back, with its interior minister contending the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, was closer. Salvini has vowed that no more humanitarian groups’ rescue boats will dock in Italy.
In recent years, private rescue vessels brought many of the hundreds of thousands of migrants saved from smuggler boats to Italy.