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. 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. 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.
Malta refuses to accept 234 African immigrants from the Dutch ship Lifeline.