Italian transport minister Danilo Toninelli has said that sanctions should be imposed on Malta over its actions in the latest migration standoff between the two countries.

The Italian coast guard ship Diciotti is currently stranded near Lampedusa with 171 migrants on board after both Italy and Malta refused it entry.

While Rome says the Guardia Costiera’s Diciotti vessel picked up the migrants in the Maltese search and rescue area, the Maltese government has insisted that the rescue took place in international seas.

Malta has insisted that here was no sign of distress and the migrants wished to go to Lampedusa. An AFM patrol boat shadowed the migrant boat as part of the country’s “duty of care”, the government said, but it could not force the boat to change course or impede it from going to the chosen destination. Furthermore, the Maltese authorities said, if this really was a case of emergency, the nearest safe port was Lampedusa, not Malta.

Italy, however, said the migrant boat was taking in water, and 13 people on board had to be airlifted to Lampedusa because of varying medical conditions.

In a tweet, Toninelli said the Diciotti rescue shows that Italy never backs out in cases where people need to be saved. But he said that Malta’s behavior is once again “unspeakable” and merits sanctioning. He added that if the EU does not show solidarity and open its ports, there would not be a reason for it to exist.

On Sunday morning, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat insisted that Malta was acting correctly in this case. 

Maltese Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia tweeted that the Italians had intercepted the migrant boat in Maltese waters, just before it reached Italian territory. This was done without coordinating with the competent rescue centre. This had been done only to keep the boat from becoming Italy’s responsibility, he said.

 

Farrugia said that intercepting a ship that is exercising the right to free navigation on the high seas is not considered as a rescue. He said that once the migrants were taken on board the Italian ship, the only solution is to disembark them at Lampedusa or any other Italian port. If Italy wants to treat this case as a rescue, then the closest safe port is Lampedusa, Farrugia said.