Italy's populist, anti-migrant interior minister said Friday that Malta should allow a Dutch-flagged rescue ship carrying hundreds of migrants rescued from rubber dinghies off the Libyan coast to make port there because the ship is now in Maltese waters.
In this photo taken on Thursday, June 21, 2018, migrants wave from aboard ship operated by the German NGO Mission Lifeline. (Hermine Poschmann/Mission Lifeline via AP)
"We ask humanly and politically that Malta finally opens one of its ports and lets these desperate people disembark," and then seize the ship, Matteo Salvini said.
Malta responded that it would "act according to the laws and applicable conventions," without further explanation. International law states that Malta must respond if they are the nearest safe port at rescue or if requested by the ship's captain.
The dynamic is similar to the standoff over the Aquarius, operated by French aid groups, which eventually sailed an additional 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) last week to deliver 630 migrants to Spain after both Malta and Italy refused to let the rescue ship access their ports. Salvini is making good on an election promise to go after rescue ships run by aid groups, which he has likened to taxi services that help the migrant smugglers.
In this photo taken on Thursday, June 21, 2018, the ship operated by the German NGO Mission Lifeline rescues migrants from a rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea in front of the Libyan coast. (Hermine Poschmann/Mission Lifeline via AP)
Salvini on Thursday said he would not allow the ship operated by the German NGO Mission Lifeline to enter Italian ports, saying that it had acted improperly by taking on board the 224 migrants that the Italian coast guard had assigned to the Libyan coast guard to rescue. Salvini said the rescue was in Libyan waters, which Lifeline denies.
Mission Lifeline said Friday that it still has not been assigned a port, despite its requests. It said it picked up additional migrant passengers during another rescue overnight, and currently was heading north with 234 on board. It said it had responded to a request for help by a merchant vessel to help rescue 113 people.
In this photo taken on Thursday, June 21, 2018, migrants on a rubber boat are being rescued by the ship operated by the German NGO Mission Lifeline in the Mediterranean Sea in front of the Libyan coast. (Hermine Poschmann/Mission Lifeline via AP)
Lifeline referred to reports that as many as 220 people were missing at sea and presumed drowned, according to survivor statements to the U.N. Refugee agency.
"The latest drownings show how important our sea rescue efforts are, and that not a single rescue ship can be missed," said Mission Lifeline founder Axel Steier. "The rescue of human lives must be prioritized before border control."
In this photo taken on Thursday, June 21, 2018, the ship operated by the German NGO Mission Lifeline is reached by a Libyan Coast Guard boat after they rescued migrants from a rubber boat in the Mediterranean Sea in front of the Libyan coast. (Hermine Poschmann/Mission Lifeline via AP)
More than 640,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since 2014, many of whom made their way northward to join family or to countries perceived as providing more assistance until Italy's neighbors enacted stricter border controls. Arrivals are down some 80 percent this year to around 14,500, as migrants have turned to other routes.
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — Rwanda says it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled and controversial bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some of them to the East African country.
There is even a place ready and waiting for the migrants — a refurbished Hope Hostel in the vibrant upscale neighborhood of Kagugu, an area of the Rwandan capital of Kigali that is home to many expats and several international schools.
The hostel once housed college students whose parents died in the 1994 genocide, this African nation’s most horrific period in history when an estimated 800,000 Tutsi were killed by extremist Hutu in massacres that lasted over 100 days.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged the deportation flights would begin in July but has refused to provide details or say about how many people would be deported.
Rwanda government's deputy spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda told The Associated Press on Tuesday that authorities here have been planning for the migrants' arrival for two years.
“Even if they arrive now or tomorrow, all arrangements are in place,” he said.
The plan was long held up in British courts and by opposition from human rights activists who say it is illegal and inhumane. It envisages deporting to Rwanda some of those who enter the U.K. illegally and migrant advocates have vowed to continue to fight against the plan.
The measure is also meant to be a deterrent to migrants who risk their lives in leaky, inflatable boats in hopes that they will be able to claim asylum once they reach Britain. The U.K. also signed a new treaty with Rwanda to beef up protections for migrants, and adopted new legislation declaring Rwanda to be a safe country.
“The Rwanda critics and the U.K. judges who earlier said Rwanda is not a safe country have been proven wrong,” Mukuralinda said. “Rwanda is safe.”
The management at the four-story Hope Hostel says the facility is ready and can accommodate 100 people at full capacity. The government says it will serve as a transit center and that more accommodations would be made available as needed.
Thousands of migrants arrive in Britain every year.
After they arrive from Britain, the migrants will be shown to their rooms to rest, after which they will be offered food and given some orientation points about Kigali and Rwanda, said hostel manager Ismael Bakina.
Tents will be set up within the hostel's compound for processing their documentation and for various briefings. The site is equipped with security cameras, visible across the compound.
Within the compound are also entertainment places, a mini-soccer field, a basketball and a volleyball court as well as a red-carpeted prayer room. For those who want to light up, "there is even a smoking room," Bakina explained.
Meals will be prepared in the hostel's main kitchen but provisions are also being made for those who want to prepare their own meals, he said. The migrants will be free to walk outside the hostel and even visit the nearby Kigali city center.
“We will have different translators, according to (their) languages," Bakina added, saying they include English and Arabic.
The government has said the migrants will have their papers processed within the first three months. Those who want to remain in Rwanda will be allowed to do so while authorities will also assist those who wish to return to their home countries.
While in Rwanda, migrants who obtain legal status — presumably for Britain — will also be processed, authorities have said, though it's unclear what that means exactly.
For those who choose to stay, Mukurilinda said Rwanda's government will bear full financial and other responsibilities for five years, after which they will be considered integrated into the society.
At that point, they can start managing on their own.
Follow AP’s global migration coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/migration
A view of Hope Hostel one of the locations where the asylum seekers from the U.K. are expected to arrive in the next 10-12 weeks in Kigali, Rwanda, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The management of the hostel where the migrants are to stay in, Hope Hostel, says the facility is ready to accommodate 100 migrants. (AP Photo/Atulinda Allan)
A view of Hope Hostel one of the locations where the asylum seekers from the U.K. are expected to arrive in the next 10-12 weeks in Kigali, Rwanda, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The management of the hostel where the migrants are to stay in, Hope Hostel, says the facility is ready to accommodate 100 migrants. (AP Photo/Atulinda Allan)
A basketball court with a volleyball play ground at Hope Hostel, where U.K. asylum seekers from the U.K. are expected to arrive in the next 10-12 weeks in Kigali, Rwanda, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The management of the hostel where the migrants are to stay in, Hope Hostel, says the facility is ready to accommodate 100 migrants. (AP Photo/Atulinda Allan)
FILE - A security guard stands in the reception area of the Hope Hostel, which is one of the locations expected to house some of the asylum-seekers due to be sent from Britain to Rwanda, in the capital Kigali, Rwanda on June 10, 2022. Rwanda government's deputy spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda said Tuesday, April 23, 2024, it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some to the East African country. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - A bedroom is seen inside the Hope Hostel, which is one of the locations expected to house some of the asylum-seekers due to be sent from Britain to Rwanda, in the capital Kigali, Rwanda on June 10, 2022. Rwanda government's deputy spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda said Tuesday, April 23, 2024, it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some to the East African country. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - The interior of the Hope Hostel, which is one of the locations expected to house some of the asylum-seekers due to be sent from Britain to Rwanda, is seen in the capital Kigali, Rwanda on June 10, 2022. Rwanda government's deputy spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda said Tuesday, April 23, 2024, it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some to the East African country. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - The exterior of the Hope Hostel, which is one of the locations expected to house some of the asylum-seekers due to be sent from Britain to Rwanda, is seen in the capital Kigali, Rwanda on June 10, 2022. Rwanda government's deputy spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda said Tuesday, April 23, 2024, it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some to the East African country. (AP Photo, File)
