STRANDED MIGRANT SHIP IN THE MEDITERRANEAN ARRIVES SPAIN’S PORT, VALENCIA
Migrants rescued from the Mediterranean and turned away by Italy and Malta has arrived in Spain’s port of Valencia.
Three vessels, including the Aquarius, which rescued the 630 migrants last weekend, have now docked in the harbour.
Health officials, interpreters and Red Cross workers are on hand to offer support.
Spain’s new socialist government has promised free healthcare and says it will investigate each asylum case.
“It is our duty to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a safe port to these people, to comply with our human rights obligations,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said earlier this week.
He has adopted a migrant-friendly stance since taking up his post two weeks ago.
An Italian coast guard ship, the Dattilo, entered the port of Valencia at 06:20 (04:20 GMT). It was carrying 274 migrants, the Italian news agency Ansa reported.
On Valencia’s quayside, 1,000 Red Cross workers were on hand to greet the migrants as they stepped off the ship. Police officers have also been drafted in to handle their arrival.
The Aquarius itself entered the port shortly after 09:30 carrying another 106 migrants. They were seen celebrating as the ship arrived.
Another Italian ship, the Orione, docked later with the rest of the migrants.
The migrants spent 20 hours in overcrowded rubber dinghies before being rescued by the Aquarius. They have since spent a week in rough seas – with many suffering seasickness.
“The weather was very bad unfortunately, and the sea was rough,”
Sophie Beau of aid organisation SOS Méditerranée told the BBC.
“So people are in a bad state…, and they are really relieved to come on safe land at the moment.”
They come from 26 countries. Reports say the largest groups (about 150 each) are from Sudan and Nigeria, with dozens more from Eritrea, South Sudan and Algeria.
Most of the rest of the 630 are from other African countries but handfuls are from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh
Officials say the rescued migrants include 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 younger children under the age of 13 and seven pregnant women.
Initially, the migrants will receive food and hygiene kits and everything else necessary to make them comfortable after weeks of hardship, Red Cross official Pedro Redon told the BBC.
BBC NEWS