A ship carrying hundreds of migrants was stuck at sea Monday after Italy and the small Mediterranean island nation of Malta both refused to allow the rescue vessel to dock.

Aid group SOS Mediterranee said the 629 passengers aboard the Aquarius had been caught up in a crackdown promoted by the right-wing partner in Italy's new populist government, which has vowed to stop the country from becoming the "refugee camp of Europe."

Those aboard the ship included 400 people picked up by the Italian navy, that country's coast guard and private cargo ships who were transferred onto the vessel. The crew of the Aquarius also pulled 229 migrants from the water or from traffickers' unseaworthy boats Saturday night, including 123 unaccompanied minors and seven pregnant women.

Later, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said his country would take in the migrants.

"It is our obligation to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a 'safe harbor' to these people," Spain's presidential office said in a statement.

Malta earlier said the rescue operations took place in international waters off Libya and were coordinated by Italy.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte had said he personally contacted Malta's prime minister, Joseph Muscat, to "take on the human assistance of persons in difficulty aboard the Aquarius."

But Muscat, "while comprehending the situation," rebuffed him, Conte said in a Facebook post late Sunday.

Like Malta, Italy didn't appear to be budging.

Italy's firebrand interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who leads the anti-immigrant League party in the governing coalition, has long railed against what he depicts as Europe's failure to show solidarity with Italy during the migrant crisis in recent years.

"Starting today, Italy, too, begins to say NO to the trafficking of human beings, NO to the business of clandestine immigration," Salvini tweeted Sunday.

More than 600,000 migrants have reached Italy by boat from Africa in the past five years. Numbers have dropped dramatically in recent months, but rescues have increased in recent days.

After leading an hours-long meeting with his coalition leaders Sunday night at the premier's office, Conte said Italy was sending two motorboats with medical staff aboard in case the migrants needed help. He made no mention of whether or when the Aquarius might be permitted to get into port.

Salvini and Italian Transportation Minister Danilo Toninelli, who is part of the 5-Star Movement faction in the new government, said in a joint statement Sunday that it was Malta's responsibility to "open its ports for the hundreds of the rescued on the NGO ship Aquarius."

"The island can't continue to turn the other way," the ministers said. "The Mediterranean is the sea of all the countries that face it, and it (Malta) can't imagine that Italy will continue to face this giant phenomenon in solitude."

Earlier, Malta said in a statement that the Aquarius took on the passengers in waters controlled by Libya and where Italian authorities in Rome coordinate search-and-rescue operations.

The Maltese Rescue Coordination Center "is neither the competent nor the coordinating authority," the statement said.

SOS Mediterranean spokeswoman Mathilde Auvillain told The Associated Press the ship was "heading north following instructions received after the rescues and transfers" Saturday night. The Rome-based rescue coordination center gave the instructions.

The aid group said in a statement it had taken "good note" of Salvini's stance, as reported earlier by Italian media. It added that the Aquarius "is still waiting for definitive instructions regarding the port of safety."

SOS Mediterranee said Maltese search-and-rescue authorities were contacted by their Italian counterparts "to find the best solution for the well-being and safety" of the people on the ship.

Human rights groups oppose returning rescued migrants to Libya, where many are held in inhumane conditions, poorly fed and often forced to do slave labor.

Libya was plunged into chaos following a 2011 uprising. The lawlessness in Libya has made it a popular place for migrants to try to depart for Europe.

Driven by violent conflicts and extreme poverty, hundreds of thousands of migrants have reached southern Europe in recent years by crossing the Mediterranean with the help of smugglers.

The United Nations says at least 785 migrants have died crossing the sea so far this year.</s>ROME — A ship carrying more than 600 rescued migrants, including 123 unaccompanied minors and seven pregnant women, remained stranded in the Mediterranean Sea on Monday after Italy’s new populist government refused to allow it to dock the day before, in a move described by rescuers as unprecedented.

Matteo Salvini, Italy’s hardline interior minister and leader of the anti-immigration League party, called on the country to “close the ports” and pledged Sunday to “STOP the filthy business of illegal immigration.”

Supplies on the ship are beginning to run low and a number of people are in need of medical treatment, including 15 with serious chemical burns and several others suffering from hypothermia, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which operates the rescue ship Aquarius alongside SOS Méditerranée.

Spanish President Pedro Sanchez announced Monday afternoon that the ship and its passengers would be welcome in the port of Valencia.

“It is our obligation to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer ‘a safe harbor’ to these people, thus complying with obligations of International law,” he said in a statement.

However, it is currently unclear whether such a move is possible as the Aquarius is obliged to obey the commands of the government-controlled Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC).

It is also unclear whether the ship has enough fuel and supplies for the roughly 800-mile journey to Valencia.

From Saturday night into Sunday morning, the Aquarius took on 629 people in six separate operations, MSF and SOS said on Twitter. The boat has been stranded between Malta and the Italian island of Sicily since Sunday, when the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center told Aquarius to hold its current position, according to MSF.

The 629 people on board include 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 children and seven pregnant women. The ship is equipped for only around 550 people, according to Aloys Vimard, project coordinator on the Aquarius. Speaking to Spanish public radio broadcaster RNE Monday, Vimard said that on-board food supplies would last only one more day.

Nicola Stalla, search-and-rescue coordinator on the search-and-rescue ship Aquarius, told CNN that the situation was unprecedented. “We have never been a situation before where we have been denied a right to a port of safety,” he said Monday via a WhatsApp message. “We are nonetheless prepared to take care of the rescued people until we are.”

The European Union has called for action to resolve the situation. “We call on all involved to contribute to a swift resolution so that the people on board the Aquarius vessel may be safely disembarked as soon as possible,” European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told CNN Monday.

Dozens of people had spent almost a full day in the water by the time the Aquarius reached them, Laura Garel, communication officer with SOS Méditerranée France, told CNN on Monday.

Anxiety is growing among the passengers, who are asking when they will be able to reach shore, according to SOS.

In footage posted to Twitter by Euronews and NBC journalist Anelise Borges, women were sitting and lying on the floor in an enclosed area below deck, one fanning another to combat the heat. “It’s unbearably hot where they are,” Borges tweeted.

There are no showers or sinks for migrants on the Aquarius and rescue workers use a disinfectant spray on people’s hands before they eat. Drinking water supplies are unlimited as the ship has its own water purification system, but the passengers survive mostly on energy biscuits, prepackaged warm rice, tea and bread.

Women and children sleep below deck, watched over by a midwife, while the men sleep on the open deck, covered only with tarpaulin.

More rescue ships on the way

Tensions in the Mediterranean are likely to rise as more rescue ships head for the Italian coast. According to Flavio di Giacomo, spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, an additional 790 migrants were rescued Sunday by the Italian Coast Guard.

“I don’t think the Italian government can deny a port of safety to the Italian Coast Guard, but they can to a foreign-flagged ship like the Aquarius,” he told CNN Monday. The Aquarius flies the flag of Gibraltar.

Also on Monday, Salvini signaled his intention to prevent a second foreign-flagged search-and-rescue vessel, Sea Watch 3, operated by a group of German volunteers and currently positioned off the coast of Libya, from docking.

“Italy has stopped bowing its head and obeying, this time THERE ARE THOSE WHO SAY NO,” he tweeted Monday.

MSF said Sunday that Italy had reportedly asked Malta to allow the rescued migrants to disembark there. However, Malta’s Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security issued a statement saying the country is not responsible for the rescue effort coordinated by the Aquarius.

“Malta is in full conformity with international obligations & will not take the vessel in its ports. We will continue,where possible, carrying out individual&humanitarian emergency medical evacuations,” Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted.

On Monday the UN Refugee Agency called for “concerned governments” to allow the immediate disembarkation of those on board the Aquarius, and to address the bigger political problems later.

“There is an urgent humanitarian imperative here,” said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR’s Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean, in a statement. “People are in distress, are running out of provisions and need help quickly. Broader issues such as who has responsibility and how these responsibilities can best be shared between states should be looked at later.”

In defiance of Salvini and the government’s anti-immigrant stance, several Italian mayors have suggested they would be prepared to welcome the Aquarius into their port.

Leoluca Orlando, mayor of the Sicilian capital Palermo, said his city “always will be ready to welcome ships, civilian or military, which are committed to rescuing lives in the Mediterranean” and accused Salvini of violating international law.

The mayors of Naples and Reggio Calabria — two coastal cities in mainland Italy — also said they would allow the ship to dock.

“If a minister without heart lets pregnant women, children, elderly, human beings die, the port of Naples is ready to welcome them. We are human, with a big heart,” said Luigi de Magistris, the mayor of Naples.

Such rhetoric is largely symbolic as the MRCC in Rome is the only organization that can authorize the docking of a foreign-flagged ship in Italy — city mayors do not have the power to do so. However, such strong and public rejection of the government’s immigration policy is likely put pressure on new Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte just a week into his first term.

Since 2015, when more than a million migrants and refugees arrived on Europe’s shores, governments across the continent have sought to fortify their countries’ borders.

The number of people attempting to cross the Mediterranean from northern Africa or Turkey has fallen sharply, largely as a result of two controversial deals: one struck in March 2016 between the European Union and Turkey — under which Syrian refugees arriving in Greece from Turkey are sent back — and another made last year between Italy and Libya, in which the southern European country pledged to bolster Libya’s coast guard so it could spot departing migrant boats and house migrants attempting to cross.

But with 3,116 deaths in 2017, the Mediterranean remained the deadliest migrant route in the world last year, according to the IOM. It said just under 70% of the 171,635 migrants who entered Europe by sea had arrived in Italy.

As of June 6, there had been an estimated 785 deaths on the route this year, the IOM said,with the majority of the 33,400 migrants and refugees arriving through Greece and Italy.

More than 100 migrants died in a single incident earlier this month when an overcrowded boat sank a few miles off the coast of Tunisia.</s>Aid group SOS Mediterranee said the 629 passengers aboard the Aquarius were caught up in a crackdown promoted by the right-wing partner in Italy's new populist government, which has vowed to stop the country from becoming the "refugee camp of Europe."

Those aboard the ship included 400 people picked up by the Italian navy, that country's coast guard and private cargo ships who were transferred onto the vessel. The crew of the Aquarius also pulled 229 migrants from the water or from traffickers' unseaworthy boats Saturday night, including 123 unaccompanied minors and seven pregnant women.

Malta said the rescue operations took place in international waters off Libya and were coordinated by Italy.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte said he personally contacted Malta's prime minister, Joseph Muscat, to "take on the human assistance of persons in difficulty aboard the Aquarius."

But Muscat, "while comprehending the situation," rebuffed him, Conte said in a Facebook post late Sunday.

Like Malta, Italy didn't appear to be budging.

Italy's firebrand interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who leads the anti-immigrant League party in the governing coalition, has long railed against what he depicts as Europe's failure to show solidarity with Italy during the migrant crisis in recent years.

"Starting today, Italy, too, begins to say NO to the trafficking of human beings, NO to the business of clandestine immigration," Salvini tweeted Sunday.

More than 600,000 migrants have reached Italy by boat from Africa in the past five years. Numbers have dropped dramatically in recent months, but rescues have increased in recent days.

After leading an hours-long meeting with his coalition leaders Sunday night at the premier's office, Conte said Italy was sending two motorboats with medical staff aboard in case the migrants needed help. He made no mention of whether or when the Aquarius might be permitted to get into port.

Salvini and Italian Transportation Minister Danilo Toninelli, who is part of the 5-Star Movement faction in the new government, said in a joint statement Sunday that it was Malta's responsibility to "open its ports for the hundreds of the rescued on the NGO ship Aquarius."

"The island can't continue to turn the other way," the ministers said. "The Mediterranean is the sea of all the countries that face it, and it (Malta) can't imagine that Italy will continue to face this giant phenomenon in solitude."

Earlier, Malta said in a statement that the Aquarius took on the passengers in waters controlled by Libya and where Italian authorities in Rome coordinate search-and-rescue operations.

The Maltese Rescue Coordination Center "is neither the competent nor the coordinating authority," the statement said.

SOS Mediterranean spokeswoman Mathilde Auvillain told The Associated Press the ship was "heading north following instructions received after the rescues and transfers" Saturday night. The Rome-based rescue coordination center gave the instructions.

The aid group said in a statement it had taken "good note" of Salvini's stance, as reported earlier by Italian media. It added that the Aquarius "is still waiting for definitive instructions regarding the port of safety."

SOS Mediterranee said Maltese search-and-rescue authorities were contacted by their Italian counterparts "to find the best solution for the well-being and safety" of the people on the ship.

Human rights groups oppose returning rescued migrants to Libya, where many are held in inhumane conditions, poorly fed and often forced to do slave labor.

Libya was plunged into chaos following a 2011 uprising. The lawlessness in Libya has made it a popular place for migrants to try to depart for Europe.

Driven by violent conflicts and extreme poverty, hundreds of thousands of migrants have reached southern Europe in recent years by crossing the Mediterranean with the help of smugglers.

The United Nations says at least 785 migrants have died crossing the sea so far this year.</s>ROME — Italy and Malta dug in for a second day Monday and refused to let a rescue ship with 629 people aboard dock in their ports, leaving the migrants at sea as a diplomatic standoff escalated under Italy's new anti-immigrant government.

"Enough!" said Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. "Saving lives is a duty, but transforming Italy into an enormous refugee camp isn't."

He tweeted: #Chiudiamoiporti. "We're closing the ports."

Maltese Premier Joseph Muscat also refused to take in the Aquarius ship of the humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee. He accused Italy, which co-ordinated the rescue, of violating international norms governing sea rescues.

Italy's position, Muscat said, risks "creating a dangerous situation for all those involved."

As the rhetoric intensified, the Aquarius remained on standby in the Mediterranean Sea with its 629 passengers, including 123 unaccompanied minors and seven pregnant women. The ship said it had been ordered by Italy's coast guard co-ordinationcentre late Sunday to remain 35 miles off Italy and 27 miles from Malta.

The migrants had been rescued during a series of operations Saturday by Italian maritime ships, cargo vessels and the Aquarius itself. All passengers were offloaded to the Aquarius to be taken to land.

Doctors Without Borders, which has staff aboard the Aquarius, tweeted a video of some of the women aboard the ship praying Monday morning and said they were unaware of the diplomatic drama being waged on land over their fate.

"Thank you Lord," the women sang. The group said it "urgently requests a swift resolution and a designated port of safety."

The standoff marked the first inevitable clash over migrant rescues with League leader Salvini, now running Italy's interior ministry. Salvini campaigned on an anti-immigrant platform that also included a vow to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants already in Italy, even though experts doubt such mass deportations are feasible or financially viable.</s>Malta on Sunday reiterated its refusal to open its ports to an NGO migrant rescue ship in the Mediterranean with hundreds of people on board, ignoring calls from Italy's hardline interior minister to not "look the other way".

Some 629 migrants were saved by SOS Mediterranee Saturday and are stuck aboard the French NGO's ship Aquarius, which is currently between Malta and Sicily waiting for a secure port at which to dock.

Matteo Salvini, in a joint statement with Danilo Toninelli, minister in charge of the Italian coastguard, insisted that Malta "cannot continue to look the other way when it comes to respecting precise international conventions on the protection of human life."

"That's why we ask the government in Valletta to take in the Aquarius in order to offer first aid to the migrants on board," the statement continued.

Malta's government replied saying Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had spoken to Italian premier Giuseppe Conte, and underlined "that Malta is acting in full conformity with its international obligations".

"As such Malta will not take the said vessel in its ports," the statement continued.

Media reports earlier said Salvini had threatened to close access to Italian ports for migrant rescue ships if Malta fails to act.

In the meantime Conte said that Italy has sent two patrol ships with doctors on board "ready to intervene and ensure the health of anyone on board the Aquarius who might have the need".

Speaking to AFP, a Maltese government spokesman insisted that the rescue of the migrants took place in the Libyan search and rescue area and was headed up by the rescue coordination centre in Rome, meaning Malta has no legal obligation to take in the migrants.

Speaking to news channel Sky TG24, Aquarius crew member Alessandro Porro said that they were north of Malta and had "received no communications from the Maltese authorities".

"The people we saved yesterday were in a difficult condition, at least 50 were at risk of drowning. We need to have an idea of what port to go to, something that up to now we haven't had."

The migrants were rescued by Aquarius in six separate night-time operations in the central Mediterranean on Saturday.

The French organisation said that among those saved and brought on board are 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 small children and seven pregnant women.

Italy's spat with Malta began after its reported refusal to come to the aid of another rescue ship Seefuchs, which was stranded with 126 migrants on board due to violent seas until it was allowed to dock in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo on Saturday.

"If anyone thinks I won't move a muscle while we have another summer of landings, landings and more landings, well that's not what I'm going to do," Salvini told reporters.

In the meantime some in Italy have offered to take in the migrants, with mayor of Taranto, Rinaldo Melucci, saying that the Calabrian port city was "ready to embrace every life in danger".

"Our land has always been one of refuge, I don't know how you can send away 629 human lives," he added.

Mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris said on Twitter that "if a minister without a heart leaves pregnant women, children, old people, human being to die, the port of Naples is ready to welcome them".

The same day Italian authorities held the migrant rescue boat Sea-Watch 3 for 12 hours after it brought 232 people to Reggio Calabria, on the south-western tip of the mainland.

Italian police questioned the boat's captain for more than four hours, according to the NGO, and journalists aboard were asked to hand over video footage of the rescue operation, which took place on June 5.

Sea-Watch said police also questioned some of the rescued migrants who, after being processed by the authorities, are likely to end up in reception centres.

Sea-Watch said it requested help from the coastguard in Malta to send boats to aid the rescue mission but Malta refused.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday called for an EU-wide border protection force, as well as joint asylum authority and collective standards for granting or refusing applications for protection.

"We need a real European border police that can act if necessary even if it displeases one of the (EU) states with external borders," she said in an interview with ARD public television.

EU leaders in December had set an end-of-June deadline for an overhaul of rules to create a permanent mechanism to deal with migrants in the event of a new emergency.

The summer of 2016 saw a surge in mass drownings in the Mediterranean as Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II peaked with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and elsewhere.</s>Italy-Malta refused to let a rescue ship with 629 people aboard dock in their ports

Italy and Malta dug in for a second day Monday and refused to let a rescue ship with 629 people aboard dock in their ports, leaving the migrants at sea as a diplomatic standoff escalated under Italy’s new anti-immigrant government.

“Enough!” said Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. “Saving lives is a duty, but transforming Italy into an enormous refugee camp isn’t.”

Maltese Premier Joseph Muscat also refused to take in the Aquarius ship of the humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee. He accused Italy, which co-ordinated the rescue, of violating international norms governing sea rescues.

Italy’s position, Muscat said, risks “creating a dangerous situation for all those involved.”

As the rhetoric intensified, the Aquarius remained on standby in the Mediterranean Sea with its 629 passengers, including 123 unaccompanied minors and seven pregnant women. The ship said it had been ordered by Italy’s coast guard co-ordinationcentre late Sunday to remain 35 miles off Italy and 27 miles from Malta.

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The migrants had been rescued during a series of operations Saturday by Italian maritime ships, cargo vessels and the Aquarius itself. All passengers were offloaded to the Aquarius to be taken to land.

Doctors Without Borders, which has staff aboard the Aquarius, tweeted a video of some of the women aboard the ship praying Monday morning and said they were unaware of the diplomatic drama being waged on land over their fate.

“Thank you Lord,” the women sang. The group said it “urgently requests a swift resolution and a designated port of safety.”

The standoff marked the first inevitable clash over migrant rescues with League leader Salvini, now running Italy’s interior ministry. Salvini campaigned on an anti-immigrant platform that also included a vow to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants already in Italy, even though experts doubt such mass deportations are feasible or financially viable.

Malta, for its part, has consistently refused to take in migrants, citing its small size and limited capacities.

The island nation has progressively reduced the number of migrants it has taken in over the past decade, from a high of 2,775 in 2008 to just 23 last year, according to U.N. statistics.

Salvini pointed to Malta’s unwillingness in accusing Europe as a whole of leaving Italy on its own to deal with the refugee crisis. He noted that other European countries are very much involved in current rescue operations in the Mediterranean — including a German aid group currently off Libya — but no country is stepping up to actually take in the migrants.

“Italy has stopped bowing our heads and obeying,” Salvini said in a Facebook post. “This time we say no.”

The standoff is actually the third in recent weeks, after the outgoing government of Premier Paolo Gentiloni refused to let humanitarian aid groups dock in Italian ports until the ships’ flag nations had formally requested permission. Those incidents delayed the migrants’ arrival, but they ultimately made it to Italy.</s>Malta’s ports will not take in the Acquarius vessel with hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers on board, which has been stranded in the Mediterranean after the Italian authorities had refused to accept it.

Since Friday, the German branch of the SOS Mediterranee NGO has been rescuing migrants and asylum seekers in the Mediterranean and taking them on board Acquarius.

The vessel, now carrying 629 people, has been ordered by the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre late on Sunday to stand put 35 nautical miles from Italy and 27 nautical miles from Malta.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Monday: “I took a call from Italy PM Giuseppe Conte to discuss Acquarius issue. Malta is in full conformity with international obligations and will not take the vessel in its ports.

“We will continue, where possible, carrying out individual & humanitarian emergency medical evacuations,” Muscat wrote on Twitter. The Maltese prime minister also expressed concern over the Italian authorities’ directions given to the Acquarius vessel, adding that such policies contradicted international norms, and might lead to dangerous developments. The rescuers say those on board Acquarius include 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 children, and 7 pregnant women. Under the international law, people rescued in the sea should be brought to the closest and safest port for assistance. The Maltese authorities have been insisting that since the rescue happened in the Libyan search and rescue area and was coordinated from Rome, Malta is neither the coordinating authority nor has the competence to settle this issue, thus it would not take in the migrants and asylum seekers. Local media have been suggesting that by instructing Acquarius to stand by its current position in deep waters, new Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who had been criticising NGOs for carrying out the role of taxis for migrants, has started implementing anti-migrant policies.</s>MILAN (AP) — The first group of migrants to arrive in Italy since a populist government took office is at the center of a spat between Italy's new interior minister and fellow EU member Malta.

Some 230 African migrants landed in Calabria on Saturday after receiving authorization from the Interior Ministry. But before their ship docked, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini lashed out at Malta for allegedly denying the vessel permission to port.

The Maltese government denied the accusation late Friday, saying it "adheres to its obligations at all times."

A spokeswoman for Sea Watch, the private organization operating the recue ship, told Italian news agency ANSA that the coordination of rescues "is not the competence of NGOs."

Giorgia Linardi says many of the passengers were dehydrated from their journeys and the wait for port authorization.</s>ROME — Italy and Malta dug in for a second day Monday and refused to let a rescue ship with 629 people aboard dock in their ports, leaving the migrants at sea as a diplomatic standoff escalated under Italy's new anti-immigrant government.

"Enough!" said Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. "Saving lives is a duty, but transforming Italy into an enormous refugee camp isn't."

He tweeted: #Chiudiamoiporti. "We're closing the ports."

Maltese Premier Joseph Muscat also refused to take in the Aquarius ship of the humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee. He accused Italy, which co-ordinated the rescue, of violating international norms governing sea rescues.

Italy's position, Muscat said, risks "creating a dangerous situation for all those involved."

As the rhetoric intensified, the Aquarius remained on standby in the Mediterranean Sea with its 629 passengers, including 123 unaccompanied minors and seven pregnant women. The ship said it had been ordered by Italy's coast guard co-ordinationcentre late Sunday to remain 35 miles off Italy and 27 miles from Malta.

The migrants had been rescued during a series of operations Saturday by Italian maritime ships, cargo vessels and the Aquarius itself. All passengers were offloaded to the Aquarius to be taken to land.

Doctors Without Borders, which has staff aboard the Aquarius, tweeted a video of some of the women aboard the ship praying Monday morning and said they were unaware of the diplomatic drama being waged on land over their fate.

"Thank you Lord," the women sang. The group said it "urgently requests a swift resolution and a designated port of safety."

The standoff marked the first inevitable clash over migrant rescues with League leader Salvini, now running Italy's interior ministry. Salvini campaigned on an anti-immigrant platform that also included a vow to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants already in Italy, even though experts doubt such mass deportations are feasible or financially viable.</s>It's after Italy's new populist government has refused permission for the vessel to dock and Malta is also not welcoming anyone.

Malta's Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat's also tweeted saying, "They're concerned with Italy's authorities. They manifestly go against international rules and risk creating a dangerous situation for all those involved".

His second says, "Malta is in full conformity with international obligations and will not take the vessel in its ports".

Doctors Without Borders operates the Aquarius ship, together with the SOS Mediterranean Organisations.

There are 123 people who are unaccompanied minors and seven pregnant mothers.

The charity say they have enough supplies to feed the migrants at least for another day.

By law, it'll be difficult for Italy to refuse a safe haven according to Reuters.

Salvini says Italy should not be the only country taking in boats arriving from North Africa and urges Malta to allow the ship to disembark.

In another tweet he says, "Today even the ship Sea Watch 3, a German NGO and the Dutch flag, is off the coast of Libya waiting to bring the umpteenth load of immigrants, to Italy. But Italy has stopped bending its head and obeying".
Italy and Malta refuse entry to a German vessel carrying 629 migrants rescued off the coast of Libya.