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Migrant rescue ship Aquarius won't take people back to Libya
 [AlAhram] Rescue ship Aquarius, which has picked up almost 3,000 "When we see there is a vessel in distress, with a high likelihood of people dying, we will go and rescue them immediately as per international maritime law," Nick Romaniuk told Rooters on board the Aquarius. Over the last year coordination centres asking rescue vessels to go on standby or wait for clarification on certain things had added to the danger of people needing to be rescued, which is why they would no longer wait, he added. The 77-metre vessel, operated by Franco-German charity SOS Mediterranee, set sail from Marseille this week on its tenth mission of the year. The ship will be patrolling between 25-30 miles from the Libyan coast, west of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , an area that is outside Libya's territorial waters but inside the Libyan search and rescue region. International law states the country responsible for operations in an area has primary responsibility for disembarking rescue ships. Romaniuk said that while Aquarius would continue to abide by international maritime law, it would not be taking people back to Libya because it was not a safe place, putting it at odds with the wishes of the new Italian government. "Libya is still not recognized as a port of safety, so (we)will not be taking people back there, because... a rescue cannot terminate in a place which is not deemed a port of safety," he said. "It has to continue for the time being to be European ports. But again, it's not our decision to make, maritime authorities, they make that decision, but our red line will be not taking people back to Libya," he said. In the past the Aquarius has waited for orders from the responsible authorities before moving ahead to rescue But Italia has toughened its stance since the new government, a coalition including the anti-immigrant League party, took office earlier this year. Interior minister Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, has spearheaded a policy to shut ports to charity ships that pick up In June, the Aquarius picked up 629 But the Italian government asked the ship to go to Malta rather than Italia, triggering a standoff that drew in the European Union  ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...and La Belle France. Salvini has accused SOS Mediterranee and other charities of acting like a Mediterranean "taxi service" for the The Aquarius is one of a number of NGO-supported ships that have carried out rescue operations in the southern Mediterranean, alongside the Italian navy and EU-led missions. A rescue boat operated by the Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms this week rescued 87 More than 10,000 Almost 400 migrants rescued off Spanish coast this weekend [AlAhram] Almost 400 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean this weekend as they attempted to make the crossing from Morocco to Spain, Spanish rescue services said. While the overall numbers of migrants reaching Europe by sea is down from the peak in 2015, Spain has witnessed a steady increase in sea arrivals that began more than a year ago and has surged in recent months (nL5N1UM7TL.) Through Saturday, 395 people were rescued from nine boats in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea, the two principal sea crossings to Spain, the Spanish coastguard said on Twitter. Two more people were rescued from a small boat on Sunday, it said. Spain, which for the first time in years has overtaken Italy as the preferred destination for refugees, has registered almost 21,000 migrants so far this year, almost more than in the whole of last year, according to figures compiled by the International Organisation for Migration. The mortality rate for the crossing from Morocco is around one in 70, IOM said, lower than that between Libya and Italy, which is one in 19. Posted by: trailing wife 2018-08-06 |
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