Activists Protest as Italy Prepares to Ship Migrants to Spain
ROME (Dispatches) - Italy plans to transfer some migrants crammed aboard a charity boat onto other vessels on Tuesday and then sail them all to Spain, despite appeals from humanitarian groups to let the group land immediately.
The 629 migrants, including 11 children and seven pregnant women, have been drifting in the central Mediterranean aboard the Aquarius rescue ship since Sunday, when both Italy and Malta shut their ports to it.
Spain unexpectedly offered on Monday to take in the migrants, who were picked up off the Libyan coast over the weekend, but the Aquarius had still not moved more than 16 hours later as the authorities finalize logistics of the trip.
Italy’s coast guard said in a statement that two Italian ships would take on board some of the migrants, easing conditions on the overcrowded Aquarius. All three ships would then sail to the Spanish port of Valencia on a voyage expected to take four days.
Meanwhile, The UN refugee agency has called on Italy and Malta to immediately allow a boat carrying hundreds of migrants to dock, describing the situation as "an urgent humanitarian imperative.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also welcomed a decision by Italy not to allow a charity vessel crammed with rescued migrants to dock in Italian ports, saying it showed a will to protect maritime borders "at last”.
"It was so depressing to hear for years that it is impossible to protect maritime borders,” Orban told a news conference. "Will power has returned to Italy.”
***********Some 629 people, including pregnant women and scores of children, were saved by SOS Mediterranean Saturday and are stuck aboard the French NGO’s ship Aquarius, which is currently between Malta and Sicily waiting for a secure port.
The 629 migrants, including 11 children and seven pregnant women, have been drifting in the central Mediterranean aboard the Aquarius rescue ship since Sunday, when both Italy and Malta shut their ports to it.
Spain unexpectedly offered on Monday to take in the migrants, who were picked up off the Libyan coast over the weekend, but the Aquarius had still not moved more than 16 hours later as the authorities finalize logistics of the trip.
Italy’s coast guard said in a statement that two Italian ships would take on board some of the migrants, easing conditions on the overcrowded Aquarius. All three ships would then sail to the Spanish port of Valencia on a voyage expected to take four days.
Meanwhile, The UN refugee agency has called on Italy and Malta to immediately allow a boat carrying hundreds of migrants to dock, describing the situation as "an urgent humanitarian imperative.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also welcomed a decision by Italy not to allow a charity vessel crammed with rescued migrants to dock in Italian ports, saying it showed a will to protect maritime borders "at last”.
"It was so depressing to hear for years that it is impossible to protect maritime borders,” Orban told a news conference. "Will power has returned to Italy.”
***********Some 629 people, including pregnant women and scores of children, were saved by SOS Mediterranean Saturday and are stuck aboard the French NGO’s ship Aquarius, which is currently between Malta and Sicily waiting for a secure port.