SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
More than 600 people are stuck on a rescue ship between Italy and Malta after being saved from the Mediterranean Sea. (Photo: Karpov/SOS Mediterranee/Twitter)
Spain Offers Safe Port After 'Completely Inhuman' Italy and Malta Refuse Ship of 600+ Refugees Rescued at Sea
Affirming "obligation to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe," Spain opens port to vessel carrying 123 unaccompanied minors, seven pregnant women, 15 people with chemcial burns, and several others recovering from hypothermia
Jun 11, 2018
After a top Italian official threatened to close off all of the country's ports to refugees and, along with Malta, barred a ship carrying more than 600 migrants rescued in Mediterranean Sea to dock--a move critics decried as a blatant violation of international law--advocates praised Spain on Monday for offering "safe port" to the vessel.
"It is our obligation to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a safe port to these people, as such meeting with the obligations of international law."
--Spanish Prime Minister
Pedro Sanchez
"It is our obligation to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a safe port to these people, as such meeting with the obligations of international law," Spain's new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called Sanchez's decision "courageous and welcome," while emphasizing that "irrespective of how European countries choose to manage their sea borders, the principle of rescue at sea is one that should never be in doubt."
Grandi added that he is willing to meet with concerned governments to discuss "arrangements for search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean and to avoid any repetition of the situation in which the Aquarius found itself."
Despite confirmation from Sanchez and Valencia's regional premier about Spain's plans to work with the U.N. to designate a safe port, SOS Mediterranee tweeted that Aquarius has been refueled and provided with emergency food and water by the Maltese navy but has not received additional instructions to begin moving again from its current position between Italy and Malta.
SOS Mediterranee and Medecins Sans Frontieres--also known as Doctors Without Borders--said the vessel currently has 629 people aboard, including 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 children, seven pregnant women, 15 people who are suffering serious chemcial burns, and several others who are recovering from hypothermia and nearly downing to death.
Human rights groups have sharply criticized both Malta and Italy for rejecting the ship. Elisa De Pieri, an Amnesty International researcher focused on Italy, accused both nations of turning their backs "on their obligations under international law."
"The men, women, and children aboard the Aquarius have risked their lives on perilous seas to escape horrific abuses in Libya only to find themselves caught in an unconscionable political stand-off between two European states," she said, while also pointing out that "keeping NGO boats at sea waiting for a port means that fewer rescue ships are available to assist people who may be in distress right now."
Many of the migrants were even rescued by Italian naval units before being transferred to the Aquarius, the Guardian reported. The newspaper noted that Italian voters' frustration over some 600,000 African migrants who have fled to Italy by boat in the past five years contributed to the recent electoral success of the League, a far-right political party.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, a member of the party, wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday that Aquarius should have docked in Malta, and slammed France and Spain for their responses to the global refugee crisis. "From today, Italy will also start to say no to human trafficking, no to the business of illegal immigration," he wrote. "We will shut the ports."
Ahead of Spain's announcement, both the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and the mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribo, had reportedly offered to take in the refugees. Ribo had said the city would be "mobilizing all its resources so that Valencia will be the docking point if there are no other options," adding that he found it "completely inhuman" that a ship "could be left adrift in this situation."
The Guardian captured the current conditions aboard the ship in a short video:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
ada colauamnesty internationalbarcelonadoctors without borderseuropehuman rightsimmigrationitalyrefugees
After a top Italian official threatened to close off all of the country's ports to refugees and, along with Malta, barred a ship carrying more than 600 migrants rescued in Mediterranean Sea to dock--a move critics decried as a blatant violation of international law--advocates praised Spain on Monday for offering "safe port" to the vessel.
"It is our obligation to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a safe port to these people, as such meeting with the obligations of international law."
--Spanish Prime Minister
Pedro Sanchez
"It is our obligation to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a safe port to these people, as such meeting with the obligations of international law," Spain's new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called Sanchez's decision "courageous and welcome," while emphasizing that "irrespective of how European countries choose to manage their sea borders, the principle of rescue at sea is one that should never be in doubt."
Grandi added that he is willing to meet with concerned governments to discuss "arrangements for search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean and to avoid any repetition of the situation in which the Aquarius found itself."
Despite confirmation from Sanchez and Valencia's regional premier about Spain's plans to work with the U.N. to designate a safe port, SOS Mediterranee tweeted that Aquarius has been refueled and provided with emergency food and water by the Maltese navy but has not received additional instructions to begin moving again from its current position between Italy and Malta.
SOS Mediterranee and Medecins Sans Frontieres--also known as Doctors Without Borders--said the vessel currently has 629 people aboard, including 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 children, seven pregnant women, 15 people who are suffering serious chemcial burns, and several others who are recovering from hypothermia and nearly downing to death.
Human rights groups have sharply criticized both Malta and Italy for rejecting the ship. Elisa De Pieri, an Amnesty International researcher focused on Italy, accused both nations of turning their backs "on their obligations under international law."
"The men, women, and children aboard the Aquarius have risked their lives on perilous seas to escape horrific abuses in Libya only to find themselves caught in an unconscionable political stand-off between two European states," she said, while also pointing out that "keeping NGO boats at sea waiting for a port means that fewer rescue ships are available to assist people who may be in distress right now."
Many of the migrants were even rescued by Italian naval units before being transferred to the Aquarius, the Guardian reported. The newspaper noted that Italian voters' frustration over some 600,000 African migrants who have fled to Italy by boat in the past five years contributed to the recent electoral success of the League, a far-right political party.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, a member of the party, wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday that Aquarius should have docked in Malta, and slammed France and Spain for their responses to the global refugee crisis. "From today, Italy will also start to say no to human trafficking, no to the business of illegal immigration," he wrote. "We will shut the ports."
Ahead of Spain's announcement, both the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and the mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribo, had reportedly offered to take in the refugees. Ribo had said the city would be "mobilizing all its resources so that Valencia will be the docking point if there are no other options," adding that he found it "completely inhuman" that a ship "could be left adrift in this situation."
The Guardian captured the current conditions aboard the ship in a short video:
After a top Italian official threatened to close off all of the country's ports to refugees and, along with Malta, barred a ship carrying more than 600 migrants rescued in Mediterranean Sea to dock--a move critics decried as a blatant violation of international law--advocates praised Spain on Monday for offering "safe port" to the vessel.
"It is our obligation to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a safe port to these people, as such meeting with the obligations of international law."
--Spanish Prime Minister
Pedro Sanchez
"It is our obligation to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a safe port to these people, as such meeting with the obligations of international law," Spain's new Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said, according to the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called Sanchez's decision "courageous and welcome," while emphasizing that "irrespective of how European countries choose to manage their sea borders, the principle of rescue at sea is one that should never be in doubt."
Grandi added that he is willing to meet with concerned governments to discuss "arrangements for search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean and to avoid any repetition of the situation in which the Aquarius found itself."
Despite confirmation from Sanchez and Valencia's regional premier about Spain's plans to work with the U.N. to designate a safe port, SOS Mediterranee tweeted that Aquarius has been refueled and provided with emergency food and water by the Maltese navy but has not received additional instructions to begin moving again from its current position between Italy and Malta.
SOS Mediterranee and Medecins Sans Frontieres--also known as Doctors Without Borders--said the vessel currently has 629 people aboard, including 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 children, seven pregnant women, 15 people who are suffering serious chemcial burns, and several others who are recovering from hypothermia and nearly downing to death.
Human rights groups have sharply criticized both Malta and Italy for rejecting the ship. Elisa De Pieri, an Amnesty International researcher focused on Italy, accused both nations of turning their backs "on their obligations under international law."
"The men, women, and children aboard the Aquarius have risked their lives on perilous seas to escape horrific abuses in Libya only to find themselves caught in an unconscionable political stand-off between two European states," she said, while also pointing out that "keeping NGO boats at sea waiting for a port means that fewer rescue ships are available to assist people who may be in distress right now."
Many of the migrants were even rescued by Italian naval units before being transferred to the Aquarius, the Guardian reported. The newspaper noted that Italian voters' frustration over some 600,000 African migrants who have fled to Italy by boat in the past five years contributed to the recent electoral success of the League, a far-right political party.
Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, a member of the party, wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday that Aquarius should have docked in Malta, and slammed France and Spain for their responses to the global refugee crisis. "From today, Italy will also start to say no to human trafficking, no to the business of illegal immigration," he wrote. "We will shut the ports."
Ahead of Spain's announcement, both the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and the mayor of Valencia, Joan Ribo, had reportedly offered to take in the refugees. Ribo had said the city would be "mobilizing all its resources so that Valencia will be the docking point if there are no other options," adding that he found it "completely inhuman" that a ship "could be left adrift in this situation."
The Guardian captured the current conditions aboard the ship in a short video:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.