The Italian port authority on Friday
made a formal request for Malta to allow the NGO-run
migrant-rescue ship Lifeline to dock at a port on the island,
government sources said.
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 migrant-rescue vessel, the Aquarius,
which ended up docking in Valencia last week after Italy and
Malta refused it access to ports.
Italian Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli on Thursday
accused the Lifeline of "operating in Libyan waters outside all
rules, outside international law" after it took on 224 asylum
seekers.
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the Lifeline should go
to the Netherlands.
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