translated from Spanish: Italy prevents arrival of humanitarian boat with 54 migrants

Milan.- An Italian humanitarian group that was unable to dock on the island of Lampedusa refused on Friday to take 54 migrants rescued at sea to Malta due to the distance and psychological conditions of those on board one of their ships. Mediterranea Saving Humans tweeted that his ship was in Lampedusa, just outside Italian territorial waters, and that he was barred from entering Italian jurisdiction by ministerial decree. Migrants rescued thursday in Libya were travelling in a rubber boat. 

The NGO said the decree is illegitimate because it cannot be applied to a ship carrying people rescued at sea, and because Italy cannot prohibit an Italian-flagged ship from entering its waters. Help. Click on the Google News star and follow us. Malta agreed to receive migrants in exchange for Italy receiving the same number. The deal, announced by Malta on Thursday night, seems to avoid what would be the 21st clash since the Italian populist government began to reject any arrival at port to humanitarian groups rescuing migrants at sea. Italy insists that the Libyan coastguard should intervene and that migrants return to Libya, but NGOs say it is against maritime law, as Libya is not a safe harbor, as evidenced by the bombing of a migrant centre this week that killed Tens. 

Italy argues that the presence of the ships encourages smugglers and that the country has been left unjustly burdened with managing the arrival of migrants from North Africa heading to Europe.

Original source in Spanish