VALLETTA: Malta said on Tuesday it would only allow a stranded rescue ship carrying over 200 migrants to dock if other EU states agreed to take in some of those onboard.

The fate of the Lifeline ship, run by a German NGO, hung in the balance as EU states remained at loggerheads over how to handle the influx of people trying to reach the continent.

The vessel had rescued the 234 migrants, including children and pregnant women, on Thursday but Malta and Italy initially refused to take it in.

“I just got off the phone with (Maltese) Prime Min­i­s­ter (Joseph) Muscat: the NGO ship Lifeline will dock in Malta,” Italian Prime Mi­­nister Giuseppe Conte said, without specifying when.

“Italy will do its part and welcome some of the mig­rants who are onboard the Lifeline.” Portugal also confirmed it was ready to accept an unspecified number of the Lifeline passengers.

The announcements came after Malta said it would only allow disembarkation if other European Union countries took their quota of migrants. The government also war­ned it would launch an investigation and possibly take action against the Lifeline once it entered Maltese waters.

The Lifeline NGO, meanwhile, tweeted that “we now need EU countries to welcome the people. That was what Malta asked for, and that is what we asked for.” Italy’s far-right Interior Mi­­n­ister Matteo Salvini quickly hailed the news that a second migrant ship he had turned away would be taken in elsewhere. Earlier this month, Rome rejected the Aquarius ship carrying 630 migrants, forcing it to eventually dock in Spain.

“For women and children really fleeing the war the doors are open, for everyone else they are not!” he tweeted.

Salvini has repeatedly warned foreign charities to stop rescuing migrants off Libya, insisting Italian ports “are and will be closed to those who aid human traffickers”.

The decision by Italy’s new hardline government and Malta to turn away rescue vessels has plunged Europe into a political crisis over how to collectively handle the huge numbers of people fleeing war and misery in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

French government spok­esman Benjamin Griveaux earlier told RTL radio that “a European solution seems to be emerging”.

He insisted there was no migrant “crisis” but urged leaders “to respond quickly to an urgent situation”.

“France is ready to send a team on site to process (asylum) requests on a case-by-case basis,” as it did for mig­rants aboard the Aquarius once it docked in Spain. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Madrid would take part in a “joint response” over Lifeline, but “several countries must participate”.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2018