Updated 12.25pm 

Italian deputy prime minister Luigo di Maio has said Italy would welcome the children and women stranded on rescue ships, blaming the Maltese for their predicament. 

A total of 49 migrants have been stranded on board an NGO rescue vessel for several days as no EU state has come forward to assume responsibility for them. The majority of them were saved off Libya way back on December 22. 

"Two ships at the borders of Europe… Malta does not dock boats despite being in their territorial waters a mile from the coast… We can't keep giving in to this blackmail. For me, no child with his mother can continue to be held hostage to the selfishness of all European states," he wrote.

He said that Malta turned its back on the migrants and wanted to send them to Italy.

“We'll welcome them. We are ready once again to give, as always, a lesson of humanity to the whole of Europe,” he wrote on Facebook.

Mr Di Maio said he would contact all the heads of EU member states to insist that they would respect the quotas planned.

“Children can't pay the price for a Europe turning its eyes away,” he said.

However, by noon on Saturday, the Sea Watch 3 said it had received no communication from the Italian government. 

The Netherlands said on Wednesday it was prepared to welcome some of the migrants if other countries did the same.

Read: In desperation, man jumps off rescue vessel trying to reach Malta

The migrants were taken on board the ship on December 22 after being rescued off Libya. The vessel was subsequently allowed to enter Malta's waters to shelter from a storm.

Government says boat was rescued from point that was closer to Italy

The government pointed out in a statement that the NGO boat had rescued the migrants from a location outside the search and rescue region of Malta.

"The rescue was made closer to Italy than to Malta and while the NGO did request Italy to provide a safe port in which to disembark the rescued migrants, Italy refused to allocate a safe port, which is why the NGO vessel was forced to sail further away from the point of rescue and to seek refuge within Maltese territorial waters," it pointed out.

The government said Italy had closed its ports to all NGOs and also to other rescues where Italy was bound to disembark in accordance with international law.

It added that the Italian Deputy Prime Minister should "check his facts before drafting such public statements and refrain from making such statements in the future".

It pointed out that the European Commission was currently coordinating a voluntary reallocation programme for around 300 migrants rescued in the Central Mediterranean.