Italy on Friday said that 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.
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.
Italian Minister of Transport Danilo Toninelli criticized Malta on Facebook, where he also posted a photograph of an e-mail 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 an “SAR [search and rescue] situation.”
Photo: EPA
Anti-immigrant Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini has said the ship, the Lifeline, should take the migrants to the Netherlands, since it is flying a Dutch flag.
A Maltese 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 Lifeline 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 e-mail said the ship “has not manifested any distress.”
“Europe must intervene to remedy this inhumanity of Malta,” Toninelli said.
Maltese Minister of the Interior 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.
Malta 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 last year — the new populist government has thrust immigration to the top of the EU’s agenda ahead of a summit of leaders next week.
The Italian 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.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the