Finland to accept 8 asylum seekers from stranded vessel

The government has decided to allow up to eight persons rescued off the coast of Libya to apply for a possible asylum in Finland.

The persons are on the Sea Watch 3 in the port of Lampedosa, Italy. The Italian government has not allowed the forty asylum seekers on the ship to land, except thirteen of them in an endangered situation, local media reported.

The future of the rest of the group remained unknown, and a European Commission spokesperson told Finnish radio correspondent that "positive news" would be coming, but said details could not be released yet.

The Finnish decision, made by a ministerial working group, on Friday became major national news in Finland on Friday as it was a reversal from the previous Finnish policy.

The earlier Finnish government in January refused to accept asylum seekers from two ships in Malta. The request to accept people from the Sea Watch 3 was channeled through the European Commission.

The Finnish ministerial working group noted that the fresh Finnish decision is a "one-time case" and that the asylum seekers will be undergoing the standard Finnish asylum appraisal process.

Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo said the Finnish policy line has changed. She told national broadcaster Yle on Friday that Finland wants to "show example" as it assumes the new presidency of the EU.

Sea Watch 3 has been at sea for two weeks and entered then Italian waters without a prior clearance.

The Italian minister of the interior has said the people on the ship could only land in Holland where the ship has been registered, or in Germany, Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported. The operations of Sea Watch 3 are financed by a charitable organization in Germany.