Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Europe

Migrants welcomed in Spain after odyssey

China Daily | Updated: 2018-06-18 09:07
Share
Share - WeChat
Migrants disembark from the Italian navy boat Dattilo in Valencia on Sunday. [Photo/Agencies]

VALENCIA, Spain-The Aquarius rescue ship, a pawn in Europe's latest battle over immigration, has docked in the Spanish port of Valencia after a weeklong odyssey carrying migrants around the Mediterranean Sea.

The boat operated by aid groups SOS Mediterranee Sea and Doctors Without Borders touched land shortly before 11 am on Sunday with 106 migrants onboard.

An Italian Coast Guard ship had already arrived in Valencia with 270 of the 630 total migrants that the Aquarius saved off Libyan shores over a week ago.

Another Italian Navy ship with the rest of the migrants from the Aquarius arrived at 1 pm.

The migrants were welcomed by a team of more than 2,000 people, including 1,000 Red Cross volunteers and 470 translators.

High waves and winds forced the convoy to take a detour on their 1,500-kilometer voyage to Spain. Their arrival marked the end of a weeklong odyssey in the Mediterranean Sea.

A huge banner was earlier put up at the port saying "Welcome home" in various languages.

"People are coming forward for everything: serving as translators, providing accommodation," said Johnson Tamayo, a 51-year-old artist and Red Cross volunteer.

The passengers are made up of 450 adult men and 80 women-including at least seven pregnant women-as well as 11 under-13s and 89 adolescents, according to figures released by authorities.

They come from 26 countries, mainly from Africa but also Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, according to Doctors Without Borders.

Chartered by a French aid group, Aquarius rescued the migrants off Libya's coast last weekend.

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.

Spain's Minister of Public Works Miguel Angel Abalos said on Saturday that the migrants from the Aquarius will be granted a "special authorization" to remain in the country for one month before "they will be dealt with according to our laws without exception".

Further bans

Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini warned on Saturday that other NGO-operated rescue ships would also be banned from docking.

"While the Aquarius is sailing toward Spain, two other Dutch NGO-operated vessels (Lifeline and Seefuchs) have arrived off the Libyan coast, to wait for their human cargoes once the people smugglers abandon them," Salvini said in a Facebook post.

"These people should know that Italy no longer wants to be any part of this business of clandestine immigration and they will have to look for other ports to go to." he said.

AFP-AP

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 日韩亚洲人成网站| a级毛片免费观看网站| 永久不封国产毛片AV网煮站| 国产综合久久久久| 亚洲人成图片小说网站| 黄色a视频在线观看| 成人免费的性色视频| 亚洲一区无码中文字幕乱码| 超碰色偷偷男人的天堂| 婷婷久久久五月综合色| 亚洲成a人片在线观看中文| 香蕉视频在线观看免费国产婷婷| 成年女人a毛片免费视频| 亚洲系列第一页| 亚洲精品短视频| 我就想添50多的老女人水很多| 亚洲免费观看在线视频| 色综合久久精品中文字幕首页| 国产精彩对白综合视频| 一本丁香综合久久久久不卡网站| 欧美大片在线观看完整版| 国产免费一区二区三区在线观看 | 一区在线观看视频| 欧美性猛交xxxx乱大交丰满| 免费看的一级毛片| 性xxxxfeixxxxx欧美| 大帝AV在线一区二区三区| 亚洲AV无码一区二区二三区软件| 色噜噜综合亚洲AV中文无码| 在线视频亚洲欧美| 中文字幕成人网| 曰韩无码无遮挡a级毛片| 内射中出无码护士在线| 韩国理论妈妈的朋友| 大桥久未无码吹潮在线观看| 中文字字幕在线高清免费电影| 欧美成人黄色片| 四虎国产成人永久精品免费 | 国产免费av一区二区三区| 青青草原免费在线| 成人亚洲综合天堂|