Spanish aid boat blocked by Italy rescues 39 more migrants

LAMPEDUSA, Italy (AP) — A private rescue ship that has remained at sea with 121 migrants after being denied permission to enter ports in two European countries rescued 39 more people Saturday, further complicating conditions on board, a Spanish aid group said.

The Open Arms made its latest rescue in international waters in the central Mediterranean Sea, where it has idled for nine days after picking up two other groups attempting to make the perilous crossing.

Italy and Malta both refused to allow the aid group's ship into their ports after the Aug. 2 missions. Malta offered to let the ship disembark the 39 new passengers Saturday, but continued to reject the original 121, aid group founder Oscar Camps said.

"We cannot evacuate 39 people and tell the rest that they have to stay," Camps said.

The Maltese government said it was willing to take the 39 migrants because their boat was in the country's designated search-and-rescue area and Malta had launched its own operation before the Open Arms reached it.

But the government said in a statement that the other 121 migrants were picked up "in an area where Malta is neither responsible nor the competent coordinating authority."

"Malta can only shoulder its own responsibility since other solutions are not forthcoming," the statement continued.

A new Italian law permits fines of up 1 million euros ($1.1 million) against the owners of rescue ships operated by nonprofit groups that enter Italy's waters without permission.

The law is Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's most recent action to stop aid groups' rescue ships, which he alleges encourage people smuggling from North Africa and burden Italy with asylum-seekers.

Salvini said he has signed orders specifically banning the Open Arms and the Norwegian-flagged migrant rescue...