Spain willing to take migrants from Open Arms rescue ship

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, August 16, 2019
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MADRID, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Spain is willing to take some of the 147 migrants who have been stranded on the rescue ship Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea for fortnight, Spanish State TV network RTVE reported Thursday.

The Open Arms rescued the migrants from the dinghies in which they were attempting to cross from North Africa to Europe, but has been stranded at sea ever since after the vessel was blocked from docking in Italy by the country's interior minister Matteo Salvini.

The Open Arms, which is operated by a Spain-based charity, was finally given permission to enter Italian waters on Thursday, a day after a court in Rome overturned Salvini's ban.

RTVE cited government sources as saying that Spain was working with several European Union nations and the European Commission in order to find a "common...and orderly solution" to the problem and that Spain was prepared to "participate in a balanced distribution of migrants housed in the ship."

Speaking on Spanish radio station Radio Nacional, Open Arms founder Oscar Camps gave a cautious welcome to the news, saying it was "better late than never."

However, he said he was disappointed it had taken so long to find a solution commenting that "the 14 days of suffering (for the migrants) could have been avoided" if countries had acted sooner.

In June 2018, Spain accepted over 600 migrants who had been rescued from the Mediterranean by another rescue ship named The Aquarius. Enditem

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