Tag: Marooning

ROME, Italy (AFP) — Spain offered Monday to take in a ship stranded in the Mediterranean with 629 migrants aboard after Italy and Malta refused to let the vessel dock in their ports. The migrants, including pregnant women and scores of children, were saved by the French charity SOS Mediterranee on Saturday. “The prime minister has given instructions for Spain to honor international commitments on humanitarian crises and announced that the country will receive the ship Aquarius,” his office said in a statement. “The priority of both the Italian and Maltese authorities should be ensuring these people receive the care they need,” European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters, calling for a “swift resolution.” Italy’s refusal to take in the migrants is the first sign of the new government’s hardened stance on immigration. Its far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini showed no sign of backing down on Monday. “Saving lives is a duty, turning Italy into a huge refugee camp is not. Italy is done bending over backwards and obeying, this time THERE IS SOMEONE WHO SAYS NO,” he wrote on Twitter followed by the hashtag #closethedoors. ‘Vulnerable patients at risk’ “We haven’t moved since last night, people are starting to wonder why we’ve stopped,” journalist Anelise Borges, who is aboard the Aquarius, said in a tweet. We need to have an idea of what port to go to, something that up to now we haven’t had,” Aquarius crew member Alessandro Porro told news channel Sky TG24 on Sunday. The French organization said those brought on board included 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 small children and the seven pregnant women.