Germany will take 50 of 450 migrants Italy helped to rescue from an overcrowded boat in the Mediterranean on Saturday, the German government said, following an Italian plea for EU states to share responsibility.
France and Malta have already agreed to take 50 migrants each after two ships – one operated by EU border agency Frontex and a vessel owned by Italy’s tax police – picked up the migrants on Saturday near the Italian island of Linosa, more than 100 nautical miles of Malta.
Other EU countries were set to follow after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte sent letters to the heads of state and government of the 27 other EU members asking them to share responsibility with Rome for the migrants, who had sailed from Libya.
“Germany and Italy have agreed that, in view of the ongoing talks on closer bilateral cooperation on asylum, Germany is ready to accept 50 people in this case,” the German government spokeswoman said on Sunday.
The relocation exercise, which is being coordinated by Italy, mirrors a similar plan announced by Malta two weeks ago to relocate migrants aboard the MV Lifeline. Nine EU member states, including Italy, had joined that initiative.
Malta had rejected…
