Dutch shd intervene on Sea-Watch Salvini tells Conte

(ANSA) - Rome, June 21 - Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Friday wrote to Premier Giuseppe Conte reiterating his 'closed ports' policy and saying that the Netherlands should deal with the Sea-Watch 3, which has been stuck in international waters south of Lampedusa for nine days with 43 rescued migrants aboard.
    Salvini, who is also deputy premier and leader of the anti-migrant League party, said "a fresh energetic initiative of sensibilisation" was needed towards the Netherlands, given that the ship, which is run by a German NGO, flies a Dutch flag.
    Meanwhile the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, again urged Italy to let the Sea-Watch migrants land on Lampedusa.
    "These desperate people must be disembarked, it is an obligation sanctioned by international norms," said UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch.
    "Italy has a responsibility to let these people land," said Baloch.
    "None of them must return", he said, to war-torn Libya which has no internationally recognised ports of safety.
    Salvini has vowed that "none of them will land in Italy".
    He reiterated Friday, after the UNHCR appal, that "the interior ministry decides who gets into Italy".