Malta yesterday refused permission to the Italian Navy ship Borsini to land in Malta for the purpose of disembarking 334 rescued migrants. The migrants were rescued in the Maltese Search and Rescue Area south of Lampedusa on Saturday by several Italian coastguard patrol boats and transferred at sea to the Borsini. The Borsini then sailed to Malta. Malta refused permission because it said that Lampedusa or Tunisia were the closest safe locations. The Italians sought to disembark the rescued migrants at Malta because Lampedusa was overwhelmed with the arrivals of approximately 2000 migrants over the past 36 hours. The Borsini left Malta and is sailing to Taranto on the Italian mainland to disembark the migrants.
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MIGRANTS AT SEA 