Rome/Madrid — Spain has offered to take in a humanitarian ship stranded in international waters with 629 migrants aboard as Italy and Malta refused to let it dock.The EU and the UN refugee agency had called for a swift end to the standoff involving the Gibraltar-flagged Aquarius, whose passengers include 11 children and seven pregnant women rescued off the coast of Libya at the weekend.The ship had sailed north towards Italy, but Matteo Salvini, the head of the far-right League party who became interior minister in June after vowing to curb an influx of migrants from Africa, blocked it and said it should go to Malta instead.Malta refused, saying it had nothing to do with the rescue mission, overseen by the Italian coastguard. The tiny island nation with fewer than half a million inhabitants says it already accepts more refugees per capita than Italy, which has taken in more than 600,000 boat migrants since 2014."Saving lives at sea is a duty, but transforming Italy into an enormous ...

Subscribe now to unlock this article.

Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).

There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.

Cancel anytime.

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.