Rights court rejects Sea Watch appeal, interior ministry

(ANSA) - Rome, June 25 - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected a request presented by migrant search-and-rescue vessel Sea Watch 3 for the ECHR to implement interim measures asking Italy to allow the vessel to disembark migrant, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.
    But the court ordered Italy to provide necessary assistance to the migrants on board the Dutch-flagged, German NGO run migrant rescue vessel. It said it expected Italy to assist "persons on board in situations of vulnerability because of their age or state of health".
    Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Tuesday said the Strasbourg-based court ''has confirmed Italy's choice of order, common sense, legality and justice: ports closed to human traffickers and their accomplices''.
    ''Fewer departures, fewer arrivals, fewer deaths, less waste - no going back'', Salvini said.
    The court on Monday said it had received a request from the migrant search-and-rescue vessel which has been stuck in international waters south of Lampedusa since June 12, when it performed a rescue operation off the coast of Libya.
    It currently has 43 migrants aboard.