Italy will not let a German charity SeaWatch's migrant rescue boat which save 52 people off Libya enter its territorial waters, according to a directive issued on Friday by interior minister Matteo Salvini .
The directive instructs Italian police "to deny entry to and transit of territorial waters to the Seawatch3".
It orders "vigilance so that the captain and owner of the SeaWatch3 respect national and international law concerning the coordination of rescues at sea, respect the right of foreign authorities in this regard in the waters they are responsible for and which are not contested by neighbouring coastal states".
The directive also orders the SeaWatch3's captain and owner "not to repeat actions that flout national instructions and those from the relevant European authorities well as international laws governing sea rescues, immigration and coordination instructions from relevant authorities."
Salvini claims the SeaWatch3 saved the migrants on Thursday in Libyan waters but the NGO said the rescue took place some 47 miles off the northwest Libyan port city of Zawiya in international waters.
Although Libyan coastguard had claimed it was coordinating an operation to save the 52 people from an inflatable dinghy in distress, SeaWatch said that when it reached the boat, no Libyan rescue vessels had arrived.
Salvini has stated that SeaWatch3 must land the migrants in Tripoli, but the NGO ruled this out in a tweet, saying the port of Libya's war-wracked capital is unsafe. It was "shameful" that Italy should suggest "such atrocities with the complicity of EU states", said the tweet.
