Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini warns about the arrest of the crew, and NGO vessel Lifeline transporting over two hundred illegal migrants from Libyan coasts to Italy, accusing them of piracy.

Formally Salvini is difficult to reproach. Acting within the international regulations, Salvini orders stay in line with the UN frame document – the Law of Sea 1982, indicating that a sovereign state is in its right to to establish and practise legislation over its aquatorium, similar way as over its territorium. The Law gives unequivocal powers to a state to fight illegal migration, and repel any vessel, suspected in migrant trafficking.

On contrary the Lifeline vessel has hardly any legitimacy after Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli accused it of “operating in Libyan waters outside all rules, outside international law” amid confusion over where the ship was de jure registered.

This week the Netherlands denied reports that the Lifeline and another NGO-run migrant-rescue ship, the Seefuchs, are sailing under Dutch flags. “The Seefuchs and Lifeline are not sailing under Dutch flag as per UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) flag state responsibility,” the Netherlands representation at the EU said via Twitter.

In response Mission Lifeline confirmed in a tweet that its ship has been registered in the Netherlands since September 2017, attaching a photograph of the registration document to show it. It also said the rescue operation took place in international waters.

Amid clarifications Salvini informed that for “the safety of the crew and passengers“ Italy had asked Malta to open its ports for Lifeline vessel.

“It is clear that the ship will then have to be impounded and the crew members arrested. No more trafficking by sea,” Salvini underlined.

Valletta accused the Lifeline crew of ignoring Italian instructions, and denied any responsibility for the mission, but made a gesture of goodwill, offering humanitarian supplies to illegal migrants.</s>ROME (Reuters) - Italy said on Friday Malta had refused to take in a Dutch-flagged ship carrying more than 200 rescued migrants and said the decision was “inhumane”, 10 days after shutting its own ports to a migrant vessel.

Migrants are seen on the deck of the Mission Lifeline rescue boat in the central Mediterranean Sea, June 21, 2018. Hermine Poschmann/Misson-Lifeline/Handout via REUTERS

The new stand-off between the neighboring Mediterranean countries arose as Italy’s new government has been pressuring European partners to shoulder more of the burden of immigration from North Africa.

Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli criticized tiny Malta on his Facebook page, where he also posted a photo of an email full of nautical information and signed by the Armed Forces of Malta inferring that it was not responsible for the latest ship as it was not in a “SAR (Search and Rescue) Situation”.

Anti-immigrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has said the ship, the “Lifeline,” should take the migrants to the Netherlands since it is flying a Dutch flag.

Malta’s government spokesman said in a separate statement that the country was not the competent authority because initial “Search and Rescue” was done by Libya and that the ship had breached its obligations to oblige by Libyan instructions.

While Toninelli said the ship was in Maltese search and rescue waters and in difficulty, the Maltese email said the ship “has not manifested any distress”.

“Europe must intervene to remedy this inhumanity of Malta,” Toninelli said.

Maltese Interior Minister Michael Farrugia shot back with a statement saying “Toninelli should stick to the facts.”

Toninelli’s criticism of Malta as being inhumane was similar to accusations made by France, which earlier this month accused Rome of “cynicism and irresponsibility” for not letting the charity ship Aquarius dock in Italy.

That left the Gibraltar-flagged ship stranded at sea for days with more than 600 migrants on board - until Spain offered them safe haven. Malta had also refused to take in the Aquarius.

The tiny island nation has not taken in large numbers of people rescued at sea, while Italy has seen 650,000 arrivals since 2014.

The 234 migrants on board the Lifeline include 14 women and four small children.

While the number of sea arrivals to Italy has dropped dramatically this year - by more than 77 percent from 2017 - the new populist government has thrust immigration to the top of the EU’s agenda ahead of a summit of leaders next week.

Italy’s government, sworn in earlier this month after promising to raise its voice on immigration in Brussels, has sparred with France, Malta and Germany ahead of the meeting.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel played down expectations of a breakthrough at a hastily-arranged talks among EU leaders on Sunday on the migration dispute dividing Europe and threatening her own government.</s>Rome, June 22 - The Italian port authority on Friday made a formal request for Malta to allow the NGO-run migrant-rescue ship Lifeline to dock at a port on the Mediterranean island, government sources said. The Dutch-flagged ship, run by German NGO Mission Lifeline, may be set to be at the centre of an international wrangle like that which involved another NGO-run migrant-rescue vessel, the Aquarius, which ended up docking in Valencia last week after Italy and Malta refused it access to ports. Italian Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli on Thursday accused the Lifeline of "operating in Libyan waters outside all rules, outside international law" after it took on 224 asylum seekers. He called on Malta to meet Italy's request and warned that the vessel would be impounded if it does not go to Malta. "If the Lifeline NGO ship does not go to the port of Malta, which it should and must do out of a sense of humanity and out of respect for the law of the sea, it will be sequestered at once," Toninelli told Tgcom24. "As an Italian citizen, as the minister of infrastructure and transport, and as a European citizen, I would be shocked at the inhumanity of Malta if it did not receive the ship. "Malta is currently the nearest and safest port". Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Thursday that the Lifeline should go to the Netherlands. The Netherlands denied reports that the Lifeline and another NGO-run migrant-rescue ship, the Seefuchs, are sailing under Dutch flags. However, on Friday Mission Lifeline said in a tweet that its ship has been registered in the Netherlands since September 2017, attaching a photograph of a registration document. It also said Thursday's rescue operation took place in international waters. Salvini said for "the safety of the crew and passengers" Italy had asked Malta to open its ports. "It is clear that the ship will then have to be impounded and the crew members arrested. No more trafficking by sea," he added. Salvini, who is also deputy premier and League leader, has spearheaded the tough stance on migrants and NGOs operating humanitarian missions in the Mediterranean of the new League/5-Star Movement (M5S) government.</s>Rome, June 22 - The Italian port authority on Friday made a formal request for Malta to allow the NGO-run migrant-rescue ship Lifeline to dock at a port on the island, government sources said. The Dutch-flagged ship, run by German NGO Mission Lifeline, may be set to be at the centre of an international wrangle like that which involved another migrant-rescue vessel, the Aquarius, which ended up docking in Valencia last week after Italy and Malta refused it access to ports. Italian Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli on Thursday accused the Lifeline of "operating in Libyan waters outside all rules, outside international law" after it took on 224 asylum seekers. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the Lifeline should go to the Netherlands.</s>Rome, June 22 - The Italian port authority on Friday made a formal request for Malta to allow the NGO-run migrant-rescue ship Lifeline to dock at a port on the Mediterranean island, government sources said. The Dutch-flagged ship, run by German NGO Mission Lifeline, may be set to be at the centre of an international wrangle like that which involved another NGO-run migrant-rescue vessel, the Aquarius, which ended up docking in Valencia last week after Italy and Malta refused it access to ports. Italian Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli on Thursday accused the Lifeline of "operating in Libyan waters outside all rules, outside international law" after it took on 224 asylum seekers. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the Lifeline should go to the Netherlands. On Thursday the Netherlands denied reports that the Lifeline and another NGO-run migrant-rescue ship, the Seefuchs, are sailing under Dutch flags. However, on Friday Mission Lifeline said in a tweet that its ship has been registered in the Netherlands since September 2017, attaching a photograph of a registration document. It also said Thursday's rescue operation took place in international waters. Salvini said for "the safety of the crew and passengers" Italy had asked Malta to open its ports. "It is clear that the ship will then have to be impounded and the crew members arrested. No more trafficking by sea," he added. Salvini, who is also deputy premier and League leader, has spearheaded the tough stance on migrants and NGOs operating humanitarian missions in the Mediterranean of the new League/5-Star Movement (M5S) government.</s>Rome, June 22 - Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli on Friday called on Malta to meet Italy's request for it to allow the NGO-run ship Lifeline to dock on the Mediterranean island after it rescued over 200 asylum seekers at sea. He also warned that the vessel would be impounded if it does not go to Malta. "If the Lifeline NGO ship does not go to the port of Malta, which it should and must do out of a sense of humanity and out of respect for the law of the sea, it will be sequestered at once," Toninelli told Tgcom24. "As an Italian citizen, as the minister of infrastructure and transport, and as a European citizen, I would be shocked at the inhumanity of Malta if it did not receive the ship. "Malta is currently the nearest and safest port".</s>Earlier on Thursday, the Dutch-flagged German ship Lifeline, owned by the charity of the same name, was refused entry to Rome’s ports as the debate over the current migrant crisis in the EU raged on.

Spain had been in contact with Malta to offer humanitarian help with a ship carrying more than 200 rescued immigrants which Italy asked the island state to take in, the government spokeswoman said on Friday.

On Friday Italy urged Malta to take in a ship carrying more than 200 rescued migrants.</s>Earlier on Thursday, the Dutch-flagged German ship Lifeline, owned by the charity of the same name, was refused entry to Rome's ports as the debate over the current migrant crisis in the EU raged on.

Spain had been in contact with Malta to offer humanitarian help with the ship, carrying more than 200 rescued migrants.

However, Italy revealed Malta had refused their request take in the Mission Lifeline ship, a government spokeswoman said on Friday.

It comes just one day after Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the vessel should take the mirgants to The Netherlands.

Their calls follow the country's new coaltion government applying pressure on European partners to shoulder more of the burden of immigration from North Africa.</s>ROME: Italy on Friday urged Malta to take in a ship carrying more than 200 rescued migrants as the new government pressures European partners to shoulder more of the burden of immigration from North Africa.

 The Dutch-flagged ship run by the German charity Mission Lifeline was seeking a nearby European dock, a day after anti-immigrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the vessel should take the migrants to the Netherlands.

 Earlier this month, Salvini pledged to no longer let charity ships bring rescued migrants to Italy, leaving the Gibraltar-flagged Aquarius stranded at sea for days with more than 600 migrants onboard until Spain offered them safe haven. Malta also refused to take in the Aquarius.

 “For the safety of the crew and those rescued we humanly and politically ask Malta to finally open one of its ports, and then seize the ship and its crew,” Salvini said in Siena, Italy.

 Malta, a small island nation, has not taken in large numbers of people rescued at sea, while Italy has seen 650,000 arrivals since 2014.

 On Friday, Malta had not received a call for help from the ship, Lifeline, or from Italy’s coastguard, Maltese government sources said. Lifeline was sailing about half way between Tripoli and Malta early on Friday.

 “Malta cannot back out,” Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli, who oversees the coastguard, said. The European Union’s border control agency Frontex “will make an official request to Malta to open its ports”, he said.

 On Thursday, Toninelli said the Italian coastguard would pick up the 224 migrants, including 14 women and four small children, from Lifeline because it was too dangerous for the 32-metre vessel to travel to the Netherlands with so many onboard.

 He said the coastguard would escort Lifeline to an Italian port, where it would be impounded pending an investigation into its flag status after the Dutch government denied responsibility for the vessel.

 Lifeline later published its Dutch registration papers online.

 “There is no need for the Italian government to seize the ship for investigations,” spokesman Axel Steier said in a statement.

 “No port of safety was assigned so far,” Steier added. “We call out to the European community, might it be on national or local level, to help find a solution.”

 While the number of sea arrivals to Italy has dropped dramatically this year — more than 77 per cent from last year — the new government has thrust immigration to the top of the EU’s agenda ahead of a summit of leaders next week.

 Italy’s government, sworn in earlier this month after promising to raise its voice on immigration in Brussels, has sparred with France, Malta and Germany ahead of the meeting.

 An SWG poll this week showed two-thirds of Italians agree humanitarian boats should not be allowed in the country’s ports.

 But off the Libyan coast, where people smugglers operate with impunity, the UN refugee agency said an estimated 220 migrants drowned this week.

 The death toll in the central Mediterranean this year is nearing 1,000, the UNHCR said. — Reuters</s>Spain has been in contact with Malta to offer humanitarian help with a ship carrying more than 200 rescued immigrants. Italy urged Malta to take the Dutch-flagged ship run by German charity Mission Lifeline. Anti-immigrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini earlier said the vessel should take the migrants to the Netherlands, Reuters reported. “We have been in contact with Malta to offer support if humanitarian help is needed by the boat in the next few hours,” government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa said during a news conference following a cabinet meeting.
Malta refuses to accept 234 African immigrants from the Dutch ship Lifeline.