Germany Accepts 40 Rescued Refugees from Mediterranean Sea
After several days in which the German ship Alan Kurdi drifted with 65 rescued African refugees in Mediterranean waters, Malta took custody of the refugees. Germany’s Interior Minister announced that the country would accept a number of these refugees.
The long journey of the German ship Alan Kurdi with 65 African refugees has come to an end. A Maltese naval vessel took custody of the stranded and displaced refugees from the Alan Kurdi and transferred them to land so they could be distributed among European countries.
The Alan Kurdi ship belongs to a German non-governmental humanitarian organization called “Sea Eye,” which works to rescue refugees stranded and drowning in the Mediterranean. The rescue ship rescued 65 refugees from a boat off Libyan shores on Friday, July 5th (Tir 14th).
The Alan Kurdi was drifting in international waters with helpless refugees and intended to dock at the nearest European port, the Italian port of Lampedusa. However, Matteo Salvini, Italy’s Interior Minister, who holds far-right and populist positions, strongly opposed the Alan Kurdi docking and banned the ship from docking at the port of Lampedusa.
After Italy’s opposition, the ship was forced to change course towards Malta. However, Malta’s government also opposed the Alan Kurdi docking.
Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta, announced that his country decided to accept the refugees after negotiating with the German government and the European Commission.
The Foreign Ministers of Italy and Malta issued a statement calling for the creation of a mechanism at the European Union level to regularly address the refugee issue.
The “Sea Eye” humanitarian group has also criticized the fact that there is no comprehensive and permanent agreement at the level of European Union member states.
According to information obtained by the “Funke Medien Gruppe” media group, Horst Seehofer, Germany’s Interior Minister, said that Germany would accept 40 refugees from the Alan Kurdi ship, which have now been transferred to a Maltese military vessel.
Dispute Between Germany and Italy
Government circles in Berlin announced that Seehofer, Germany’s Interior Minister, asked his Italian counterpart Matteo Salvini to lift the ban on rescue ships docking at Italian ports.
Horst Seehofer, Germany’s Interior Minister, emphasized that rescuing refugees in the Mediterranean Sea is a humanitarian duty that should not be questioned.
Source: DW
