By Bartholomew Madukwe with Agency report
Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, has thanked French President, Emmanuel Macron, for accepting the 630 migrants from the Aquarius rescue ship, picked at the Mediterranean.
The prime minister described it as the kind of cooperation Europe needs at this hour.
This was as Spain’s deputy prime minister, Carmen Calvo, on Saturday, said Madrid has accepted an offer from France to take in the 630 migrants.
The French government will work together with the Spanish government to handle the arrival of the migrants”, Calvo stated. The boat is due to arrive in Spain on Sunday morning, reports AFP.
Diplomatic Watch gathered that in Valencia, preparations were underway to welcome the worn-out travellers after their long ordeal. A huge banner was put up at the port saying “Welcome home” in various languages including Catalan, the local language, and Arab.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF), who along with French charity SOS Mediterranee are treating migrants on board Aquarius, said two passengers drowned last weekend when the ship first encountered difficulties off Libya.
The passengers come from 26 countries, mainly from Africa but also Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, according to MSF. Among them are 450 adult men and 80 women — including at least seven pregnant women — as well as 11 under-13s and 93 adolescents, according to figures released by authorities in Valencia.
A team of 2,320 people has been mobilised to meet them, including 1,000 Red Cross volunteers and 470 translators. More than 600 journalists have been accredited to cover the arrivals.
Authorities in Valencia have meanwhile received more than 2,000 calls and messages from individuals offering help.
Refused Entry
Italy’s new populist government and Malta refused to let Aquarius dock in their ports, accusing each other of failing to meet their humanitarian and EU commitments. Spain eventually stepped in and agreed to receive the refugees as a “political gesture” to “oblige Europe to forge a common policy to a common problem,” Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said.
France — who had angered Rome by branding it irresponsible over the vessel rejection — offered Thursday to welcome Aquarius migrants who “meet the criteria for asylum”.
The ship is making the 1,500-kilometre (930-mile) voyage to Spain accompanied by Italian coast guard vessels, which have taken on board some of the migrants.
High waves and winds forced the convoy to take a detour on the way, but the first migrants are expected to land in Valencia between 6am (0400 GMT) and 12pm (1000 GMT) on Sunday.
EU Divisions
The plight of the Aquarius has again highlighted the failure of EU member states to work together to deal with the influx of migrant arrivals since 2015.
After Rome’s decision to ban the Aquarius, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte met on Friday and agreed that the EU should set up asylum processing centres in Africa to prevent “voyages of death.”
They also demanded emanded “profound” changes to the EU’s asylum rules which put the migrant burden on their port of entry to Europe — mainly Italy and Greece.
Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini warned Saturday that other NGO operated rescue ships would also be banned from docking.
“While the Aquarius is sailing towards Spain, two other Dutch NGO operated vessels (Lifeline and Seefuchs) have arrived off the Libyan coast, to wait for their human cargos once the people smugglers abandon them,” Salvini said in a Facebook post.
Victor Gotevbe is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of Diplomatic Watch. He is the Managing Director of Conduit Communications Limited.
