Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini on Tuesday accused EU states of failing to fulfill their responsibilities on taking in migrants, citing the situation in mid-July as an example, amid more recent tensions around Diciotti ship.
ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st August, 2018) Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini on Tuesday accused EU states of failing to fulfill their responsibilities on taking in migrants, citing the situation in mid-July as an example, amid more recent tensions around Diciotti ship.
The Diciotti ship with 177 refugees from North Africa on board docked in Sicily on Monday, as Rome relented and accepted it after several days of refusals. However, the Italian Ministry of the Interior headed by Salvini refused to allow any migrants to disembark. On Sunday, the ministry officially addressed a request to the European Commission, asking the bloc to urgently resolve the situation by spreading the migrants among several countries. In July, Italy allowed a ship with 450 migrants to disembark in Sicily only after France, Germany, Malta, Portugal and Spain had each pledged to take 50 refugees.
"Of all these countries, only France kept its word, having taken in 47 out of 50 migrants that it promised to take," Salvini said, adding that other countries did not take any migrants in.
Salvini urged the European Union to look into Malta's policy regarding migrants. The deputy prime minister cited testimonies of refugees saying that Maltese seamen were guiding them to the Italian waters and leaving there to fend for themselves.
On Monday, Salvini said that Italy might send the migrants off Diciotti back to Libya unless the bloc came up with a solution.
Europe is experiencing a large influx of migrants, fleeing conflict or poverty in their home countries. Italy, due to its geographical location, often serves as the first point of entry for many refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
