Sea-Watch Rescue Boat Defies Salvini, Heads For Italy

The Sea-Watch 3 NGO boat carrying migrants rescued in the Mediterranean said Wednesday it was headed for Lampedusa island despite the threat of hefty fines from Italy's far-right interior minister

Rome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jun, 2019 ) :The Sea-Watch 3 NGO boat carrying migrants rescued in the Mediterranean said Wednesday it was headed for Lampedusa island despite the threat of hefty fines from Italy's far-right interior minister.

"I've decided to enter the port of Lampedusa," Sea-Watch tweeted Captain Carola Rackete as saying. "I know this is risky, but the 42 shipwrecked on board are exhausted. I will bring them to safety." Marine tracking websites confirmed the vessel had entered Italian territorial waters after spending 14 days sailing back and forth off the coast of Italy's southermost island.

"Enough, we're entering. Not to provoke, but by necessity, responsibility," Sea-Watch tweeted.

Salvini has tried to ban the Dutch-flagged vessel from approaching under a "closed ports" policy, which has seen migrants repeatedly stranded at sea.

"We will use every lawful means to stop an outlaw ship, which puts dozens of migrants at risk for a dirty political game," Salvini said on Facebook after Sea-Watch said it was headed for Italy.

"I will not give permission for anyone to disembark... Our patience is over. The Netherlands will answer."The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg declined Tuesday to intervene but called on Italy to "continue to provide all necessary assistance" to vulnerable migrants.

The German NGO Sea-Watch had asked the ECHR to impose "interim measures" on Italy, saying the court could ask Rome to take urgent steps to resolve the standoff in order to "prevent serious and irremediable violations of human rights".