The German charity ship Seawatch3 will not disembark 53 rescued migrants in Italy and should head for Northern Europe instead, Italy's hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini tweeted on Friday.
"They have contacted Italy again, but our ports remain closed to pirate ships. This is the umpteenth show by fake do-gooders. They should head for Northern Europe," read the tweet.
Earlier on Friday, as the Seawatch3 headed towards Lampedusa, Salvini tweeted that the group was “kidnapping women and children in the middle of the sea.”
Salvini on Thursday launched a crackdown on Sea Watch whose ship rescued 53 migrants including several young children off the coast of Libya the previous day. He issued a decree ordering law enforcement authorities to take all necessary measures to prevent the entry into or transit through Italian waters of the Sea Watch3 ship.
Under the decree, the boat's captain, owner and operators can now be fined up to 50,000 euros if it enters Italian territory without permission, Salvini said.
Salvini says those who set sail from Libya to seek safety in Europe should be returned to the war-wracked country, instructions that are contentious under international law, and which charity-run migrant rescue vessels including Seawatch3 refuse to follow.
Salvini also accuses NGO rescue boats of abetting human traffickers.
