Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Tuesday that 47 migrants rescued at sea by an NGO can disembark if they agree to leave for Germany or the Netherlands.
Sbarco degli immigrati? Solo se prenderanno la via dell’Olanda, che ha assegnato la bandiera alla #SeaWatch, o della Germania, Paese della Ong.
— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) January 29, 2019
In Italia abbiamo già accolto, e speso, anche troppo.
"Disembarking of migrants? Only if they head for the Netherlands, whose flag the Sea Watch boat is flying, or to Germany, the country of the NGO," he said on Twitter.
"In Italy we have already received, and spent, too much."
In another tweet later, he said: "News bulletins and the Left talk of sea storms, freezing temperatures and babies on board... take a look for yourselves! I see shirtless men, calm seas, headphones and mobiles. I'm not changing my mind: to get to Italy, you have to respect the rules."
I tigì e la sinistra ci raccontano di mare in tempesta, di un freddo cane e di bambini a bordo... Come no, guardate voi!!! Io vedo uomini a torso nudo, mare calmo, cuffie e telefonini... Non cambio idea: in Italia si arriva rispettando le regole, altrimenti STOP.#SeaWatch3 pic.twitter.com/vvr9N8Lugq
— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) January 27, 2019
The Dutch-flagged Sea Watch 3 ship, operated by the German charity Sea Watch, picked up the migrants and asylum-seekers - including eight minors - on January 19 off the coast of Libya as they made the treacherous Mediterranean crossing.
It is currently sheltering from bad weather off Sicily.
Since then Malta and Italy, the nearest European Union countries, have refused to let them dock.
The Netherlands on Monday refused a request by Italy to take them in.
Salvini has made the closure of Italian ports to migrants a keystone of his policies as interior minister.
Italy has allowed the ship to shelter off the coast of Sicily but has refused to let them disembark.
EU rules task the country where migrants land with responsibility for dealing with asylum claims.
The Italian authority that guarantees the rights of detainees denounced Monday the "illegal detention" of the 47 migrants.
On Monday evening, several thousand people gathered in the rain in front of the Parliament in Rome to demand an end to Salvini's "closed ports" policy.