Spain takes in 15 migrants rescued by Open Arms ship
Fifteen of dozens of migrants rescued by the Open Arms charity ship which for days was refused entry to Italy arrived in Spain yesterday.
A Spanish navy patrol boat had travelled to Italy to fetch the 15 African migrants -- Spain’s quota as agreed with France, Germany, Portugal and Luxembourg under a deal to share out the new arrivals.
An AFP photographer witnessed as they arrived at the southern port of San Roque. After being tended to by the Red Cross, they were taken to a migrant reception centre where they can ask for asylum.
According to a government statement, the 14 men and one woman are from seven African countries -- Eritrea, Sudan, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia and Ethiopia.
The ship that belongs to Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescued them and others at sea at the beginning of August as they attempted the dangerous crossing from Libya to Europe.
But they remained stuck at sea on board the cramped Open Arms ship as Italy’s outgoing far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini refused them entry.
In the end, an Italian prosecutor ordered all migrants to disembark in the island of Lampedusa.
Spain says it is “the country which performs the most rescues in the Mediterranean,” having saved more than 50,000 people last year and around 10,600 this year until July 31, according to official figures.
The number of arrivals is falling, however, and Spain is no longer the main entry point for migrants seeking to get to Europe from Africa, as it was last year.
More people are now attempting the crossing to Greece, the International Organization for Migration says.
Spain’s interior ministry says 14,591 migrants have arrived in Spain by sea since January, 42.5 percent less than last year.
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