On Sunday, Italian Minister of the Interior and leader of the anti-immigrant political party Lega Nord, Matteo Salvini, threatened to shut off Italian ports to a ship carrying 629 migrants rescued by the charity SOS Méditerranée, if Malta declines to accept the migrants.
According to Italian daily La Reppublica, in a letter to the Maltese authorities, Salvini stated that he would be “obligated to shut Italy’s ports off” if the SOS Méditerranée ship, the Aquarius – carrying 629 migrants, that include 123 unaccompanied minors, 7 pregnant women, and 11 other children – will not be allowed to anchor in the Maltese capital, Valletta. Furthermore, according to the Corriere della Sera, Salvini claimed in the letter that the Valletta port was the closest and most secure one, which is why the ship should anchor there.
However, the Maltese authorities claim to be unaware of the existence of such a letter. A Maltese government spokesperson told Agence France-Presse that they “have not received communication from Salvini so far,” but that “Malta was neither the coordinating nor the competent authority” in the rescue. The spokesperson said that the rescue operation took place in the Libyan search and rescue area and was headed up by the rescue coordination center in Rome, implying that Malta has no legal obligation to take in the migrants.
This is the third time within the last three days that Malta refuses to allow migrant ships to access its ports.
On Saturday, a ship carrying 126 migrants, stranded in open sea under bad weather conditions, requested permission to anchor in a Maltese port. The permission was denied and the ship was left to remain in open sea, endangering the lives of the 126 migrants on board. After Malta’s refusal, the ship docked at the port of Pozzallo, in Sicily.
On the same day, Malta turned away a ship carrying 232 migrants, that went on to dock at the port of Reggio Emilia.
Salvini, who also serves as Italian Deputy Prime Minister, is infamous for his anti-immigrant rhetoric. On Friday, he called on NATO to rescue Italy who is, according to him, being attacked from the south.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, in a Facebook post, Salvini made it clear that Italy will not accept any more migrants.
Malta takes in nobody. France pushes people back at the border, Spain defends its frontier with weapons. From today, Italy will also start to say no to human trafficking, no to the business of illegal immigration. My aim is to guarantee a peaceful life for these youths in Africa and for our children in Italy.
During his electoral campaign, Salvini promised to accelerate the process of repatriation of migrants who have not been granted asylum. He has also constantly declared that he will expel more than 500 thousand illegal migrants.
Salvini has gone so far as to call out humanitarian organizations, labelling them as “taxi services” for migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean from Libya.
During the last five years, more than 700 thousand immigrants have entered Italy.
