Netherlands turns down request to accept stranded migrants

The Netherlands will refuse an Italian request to accept 47 migrants on a humanitarian ship that is being blocked from Italian ports, it said in a statement on Monday.

The Sea Watch 3, run by a German humanitarian group and flying a Dutch flag, recovered the migrants out of a rubber boat off Libya more than a week ago. Since then it has been sailing through high winds and 7-metre (23 ft) waves.