MILAN (AP) – The Italian Coast Guard says that the ship operated by the German NGO Sea-Watch will not be allowed to leave port due to safety violations.
The Coast Guard said in a statement Friday that a series of violations were discovered during an inspection of the ship, and that the Sea-Watch 3 can leave only when resolved. The problems were not specified.
The ship was permitted to disembark 47 migrants picked up on January 19th off Libya after other European nations agreed to take some in.
The stand-off was another in a series since Italy’s populist government adopted a policy of not allowing NGO ships to bring migrants to Italy’s shores, in a bid to force EU partners to share the burden of arrivals.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.