Germany asks for safe port for the Alan Kurdi

Rome, April 4 - Berlin said Friday that it is calling for the Alan Kurdi, a ship run by the German NGO Sea Eye that has rescued 64 asylum seekers off Libya, to be assigned a port of safety as soon as possible. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who had closed Italy's ports to NGO-run search-and-rescue ships, said Thursday that Germany should deal with the problem, and said two children, their mothers and a pregnant woman had refused a medical offer to leave the ship and land on the Italian island of Lampedusa. So far, the vessel's captain has respected the order issued by the Italian interior ministry not to enter Italy's territorial waters. "We have asked the European Commission to take over coordination of the Alan Kurdi and consider the need for the ship to enter a port of safety as soon as possible," a German interior ministry spokesperson said. A German foreign minister spokesperson, meanwhile, said that "we are in direct contact with our Italian partners" about the ship. A European Commission spokesperson said that the EU executive was following the case and had requested the creation of a coordination group. Germany also said it was willing to take some of the migrants on board the vessel. Two children, their mothers and a pregnant woman are refusing to leave the ship, Salvini said. The kids, aged one and six, their mothers and the pregnant woman were given permission to land on Lampedusa for medical reasons by the interior ministry earlier. "All that remains is to wish them bon voyage towards Berlin," said Salvini. Coast guard and finance guard motor launches had left Lampedusa Friday to take the four on board. Sources said they would be taken to Lampedusa. The Alan Kurdi is currently reported to be zigzagging about 15 nautical miles from Lampedusa, respecting an Italian interior ministry warning Thursday that its course was to be considered "not inoffensive" to Italy, sources said. The ship has yet to obtain from the Roma coast guard maritime coordination centre an authorisation to enter Italy's territorial waters. At Lampedusa, coast guard motor launches and finance guard vessels are said to be monitoring the situation, local sources said. Lampedusa is a stepping stone island for migrants, closer to Libya than to Sicily. It has borne the brunt of migrant landings over the past few years.