Italy: After Delays, Stranded Migrants Land

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/world/europe/italy-after-delays-stranded-migrants-land.html

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Italy on Wednesday allowed 102 migrants stranded on a tanker in the Mediterranean to disembark on the coast of Sicily after Malta refused them entry. The European Union had urged Malta to help on humanitarian grounds. The migrants, mainly from North Africa, were rescued from a boat 24 miles off the Libyan coast on Sunday by a Liberian-registered tanker. The tanker headed for Malta, but its prime minister, Joseph Muscat, resisted calls from the European Union to let the migrants in, saying they were not in distress. The European Union’s home affairs commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, welcomed Italy’s move but added on Twitter that it “would be great if all 28 EU members would help.”