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| - The southern French city of Marseille said Wednesday it would "unconditionally" receive a migrant rescue ship that had been turned away by Italy. But the French government said it was Italy's responsibility to host the vessel as the nearest safe port of call, in potentially a new dispute over the fate of migrants in Europe. The ship, named Alan Kurdi after the Syrian boy who made global headlines when his drowned body washed up on the shores of Turkey in 2015, rescued 133 people, including 62 children, from three different boats off the Libyan coast on Saturday. Germany-based aid organisation Sea-Eye said in a statement earlier the ship was travelling to Marseille as fast as possible to evacuate the 125 migrants still on board. Italian coast guards had removed two women, one man and five children -- the youngest just five months old. "In order to avoid a long and stressful crossing, we must request for an immediate disembarkation... within the next hours," said Jan Ribbeck, head of operations at Sea-Eye. The Marseille municipality said it would receive the group. "If the Alan Kurdi wants to come to Marseille, we reiterate the position that we will not let anyone drown in the Mediterranean," said acting mayor Benoit Payan. "The boat must be welcomed in the safest, closest port. It is the rule that we will continue to apply with our European partners," said French government spokesman Gabriel Attal. In this case, that port would not be in France, but Attal said the country would also not abandon people in distress and would "continue to play its part in the reception" of migrants. The French interior ministry later said in a statement that it was the responsibility of Italy to host the vessel. "We have always shown solidarity to Italy over the last two years. We therefore request Italy to respond favourably to the request made by the NGO to dock in the nearest safe port," the ministry said. "We are working urgently in line with these principles with Italy and our European partners. A solution will be found and the NGO must respect it," it added. Sea-Eye said it had asked Italy, Malta, Germany and France for safe port for those aboard the ship. Payan said Marseille had heard of the Alan Kurdi's approach via the press. But the decision to open the port to the migrants is not up to the city, but to the national government. Sea-Eye said the ship redirected for Marseille after receiving no response to its appeals for help. "The inaction of the Italian and German authorities forces us to take this step," said Sea-Eye chairman Gorden Isler. "European maritime rescue coordination centres are responsible and obliged to cooperate, because after all, human lives are at stake." More than 600 migrants have perished this year while attempting the Mediterranean crossing, the deadliest route for those hoping for a better life in Europe. Almost 50,000 have made the journey so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration. The European Commission launched an effort Wednesday to rally sceptical member states around a plan to better share responsibility for settling refugees and sending rejected asylum-seekers home. edf-dlc-mlr-shz-sjw/spm
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