Netherlands ready to take in refugees from NGO ship off Malta

The Netherlands announced on Wednesday that it is prepared to take in a portion of the 32 migrants waiting to disembark from the from a Dutch-flagged vessel as long as other countries were willing to do the same.

The two vessels have been at the centre of controversy since they have both been stranded without permission to dock anywhere since 22 December.

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"The Netherlands has indicated a readiness to possibly take in a proportional number of migrants who are on board Sea-Watch 3, on condition that other European countries do the same," said Lennart Wegewijs, the security and justice ministry spokesman.

The Dutch had first joined Italy, Malta and Spain in refusing to accept the migrants who were rescued by Sea-Watch 3, which is operated by a German charity and has been stranded off Malta.

Earlier Malta had announced that it was allowing the two NGO vessels including the Sea-Watch 3 to "take shelter" in Maltese waters due to the deteriorating conditions on board. 

The Sea-Watch 3 is currently carrying 32 migrants who were rescued from a makeshift boat in international waters on 22 December. An additional 17 migrants were rescued by the Sea-Eye's vessel Professor Albrecht Penck, amongst them three young children, three unaccompanied adolescents and four women from Nigeria, Libya and Ivory Coast.

On 29 December, a German government spokesman said that his country would only accept some of the refugees if other European countries also agreed to do so.                          

The UNHCR had appealed on Monday for European states to “urgently” offer the vessel a safe port.