Italy's hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini said he would hold the Netherlands and the European Union "responsible" for the fate of 42 migrants that Rome has blocked from disembarking at Italian ports for over a week. The Dutch-flagged rescue boat Sea-Watch 3 has been stuck in the Mediterranean since rescuing 53 migrants drifting in an inflatable raft off the coast of Libya on June 12. While eleven of those on board the Sea-Watch were allowed to disembark - including two pregnant women - the vessel was denied permission to dock in Italy and has refused to return those rescued back to crisis-hit Libya, saying Tripoli was not a safe port.
Salvini, who is also deputy prime minister and leads the powerful right-wing League party in the ruling coalition, has seen his popularity soar in the last year with a hard line against migrants which has included closing ports to rescue vessels. He said on Sunday that he had written to his counterpart in the Netherlands.
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