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Malta to relocate 65 migrants after rescue ships defy Italy ban
Honestly, we’re looking at dumb and dumber here, not that vaunted European sophistication. What is the point of pronouncing the country closed to immigrant “rescue” ships, if at the first slight push they open wide again?
[AlAhram] Malta's prime minister said Sunday his country would relocate to other EU countries 65 migrants colonists stranded aboard the Alan Kurdi rescue ship, after two other boats defied efforts to stop them landing in neighbouring Italia.

Premier Joseph Muscat tweeted that "following discussions with the EU Commission and the German government", the 65 people would be transferred from the Alan Kurdi to a Maltese military "asset which will then enter a Maltese port".

"All rescued persons on board will be immediately relocated to other EU member states," he added.

The Alan Kurdi, which had been banned from entering Maltese waters after waiting off the island of Lampedusa in recent days, is the third rescue vessel in a week to make headlines.

Far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has attempted to block Italian ports to rescue ships, as tensions rise over the international response to the migration crisis.

Early on Sunday, dozens of shipwrecked migrants colonists disembarked in Italia after their rescue boat docked on Lampedusa.

Some 41 people were finally allowed to step off migrant rescue charity Mediterranea's Italian-flagged Alex, which arrived at the port on Saturday in an overnight operation that saw the ship temporarily seized by authorities.

The boat's captain Tommaso Stella is being investigated for allegedly aiding illegal immigration, according to the Italian news agency Agi.

'IRRESPONSIBILITY OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES'
Authorities on Lampedusa in late June seized a rescue ship belonging to German aid group Sea-Watch, which had forced its way into port with dozens of rescued migrants colonists on board, and arrested its captain Carola Rackete.

An Italian judge subsequently ordered her freed, saying she had been acting to save lives, a decision which sparked Salvini's ire but may have encouraged the Alex crew.

Two other investigations, on charges of helping people smugglers and resisting the authorities are still under way after Rackete forced her way past Italian customs vessels.

"The irresponsibility of European countries obliged me to do what I did," Rackete said, in a message to the thousands of protesters who demonstrated in Germany on Saturday to support her.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer wrote a letter to Salvini asking him to rethink his policy, sources close to the German government said.

"We cannot be responsible for boats with people rescued from shipwrecks on board spending weeks on the Mediterranean because they can't find a port," Seehofer wrote.

Also on Sunday, Maltese authorities said they had rescued another group of 50 migrants colonists in Malta's search and rescue zone on Sunday, after receiving a distress call saying their vessel was sinking.

They are expected to arrive in Malta on Sunday evening.
Deutsche Welle adds:
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Sunday evening that Germany would welcome up to 40 migrants — 15 to 20 from the Alan Kurdi and the rest from the second group — "in the spirit of European solidarity."
Posted by: trailing wife 2019-07-08
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=545173