Rescue Boat Drifts at Sea as Italy Takes Anti-Migrant Stance

Rescue Boat Drifts at Sea as Italy Takes Anti-Migrant Stance
Migrants disembark from the MV Aquarius, a search and rescue ship run in partnership between SOS Mediterranee and Medecins Sans Frontieres, after it arrived in Augusta on the island of Sicily, Italy, Jan. 30, 2018. Reuters/Antonio Parrinello/File Photo
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ROME—A rescue ship with more than 600 migrants on board was drifting in international waters on Monday as Italy’s new interior minister doubled down on his decision to stop it docking in an Italian port.

Matteo Salvini, head of the League party who campaigned vowing to stop to the mass influx of migrants from Africa, blocked the ship, operated by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors without Borders, over the weekend.