Italy asks EU to find states willing to take 177 migrants from coastguard ship

Italy has asked the EU to find countries willing to take 177 migrants who have been aboard an Italian coastguard ship for days following another standoff with Malta, AP reported Monday. The Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had written a letter to the EU Commission asking it to work out a solution, as it has done on several other occasions in the past two months. The letter follows threats by Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini to send the migrants back to Libya. The EU has said Libya is not a safe harbor for migrants. The ship is off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. Italy’s government has refused to accept migrants rescued at sea. Malta says the migrants were not in distress.