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Italy takes rescued migrants to Genoa, but says they can't stay

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Italy takes rescued migrants to Genoa, but says they can't stay
A file photo of a previous Italian navy operation to rescue migrants. Photo: AFP PHOTO / MARINA MILITARE

The Italian navy were transporting 100 migrants to the northern port of Genoa Friday, a day after rescuing them, but officials there say they will not be able to stay.

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The patrol vessel Cigala Fulgosi came to the migrants' aid Thursday after the engine on their inflatable boat failed in worsening weather. Only a few of them had lifejackets.

It is the first time a marine vessel has been forced to take migrants it rescued in the southern Mediterranean, off the Italian island of Lampedusa, further north to land them there.

The decision came from the far-right, anti-migrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini who had regularly expressed his frustration at the actions of Defence Minister Elisabetta Trenta.

Trenta, a member of coalition partners the Five Star Movement does not share Salvini's hard line on migrants.

While they will land in Genoa, Salvini said Friday: "No foreigner will stay in Liguria (the Genoa region) or at the expense of Italian tax-payers."

Since he came to power a year ago, Salvini has often blocked the work of rescue boats in the Mediterranean and scaled back Italian navy patrols in the region.

The Cigala Fulgosi was at sea to provide security for oil platforms and fishing vessels off the coast of Libya.

READ ALSO: Italy takes in 150 refugees flown in from Libya

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Anonymous 2019/06/01 19:38
What needs to be remembered and always at the forefront of ANY discussion about UNDOCUMENTED DISPLACED PEOPLE, is that Italy was wholeheartedly behind Washingtons' aggression since at least the invasion of Iraq then Libya.<br /> These displayed people are the logical consequence of the murderous policies of imperial Washington and junior partners like Italy. THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT MUST BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS' ACTIONS AND NOT TRY TO PLAY OFF THESE IMMIGRANTS AGAINST ITS OWN POPULATION WHICH ON ANY GIVEN DAY SUFFEFROM ITALY'S OWN CAPITALISM

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