Stark reaction to Italy’s refusal to accept migrants

CATANIA, ITALY — Italy dispatched two ships Tuesday to help take 629 migrants stuck off its shores on the days-long voyage to Spain in what is forecast to be bad weather, after the new populist government refused them safe port in a dramatic bid to force Europe to share the burden of unrelenting arrivals.

The rescue ship Aquarius has been stuck since Saturday in international waters off the coast of Italy and Malta, both of which have denied it entry. The ship has 629 migrants including 123 unaccompanied minors, 11 children and six pregnant women.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders, which operates the Aquarius with SOS Mediterranee, urged both Italy and Malta to reconsider their refusal to allow the stranded migrants landfall and then safe passage by other means to Spain, which has responded to the plight with an offer of safe harbour. The aid group said the migrants were “exhausted and stressed” and warned of severe health risks to a number of the passengers during the 1,500-kilometre journey.

Italy’s new anti-migrant, rightwing interior minister, Matteo Salvini, is making good on a campaign pledge to close Italian ports to non-governmental organizations that pick up migrants at sea, which he has likened to taxi services for migrant smugglers.

Salvini, whose League is part of the populist coalition that took office this month, promised voters that other European countries would be made to share the burden of caring for asylumseekers arriving in Italy on unseaworthy boats mostly from lawless Libya, while taking particular aim at the aid vessels.

“These are all foreign ships flying foreign flags that bring this human cargo to Italy,” Salvini told private television La7 on Monday. “We have hosted 650,000 migrants in recent years alone, all of whom pass by Malta, an EU country, and the government says, ‘Ciao, Ciao, go to Italy.’ ... I am happy to have given a small, first response.”

While Salvini turned away the Aquarius, an Italian Coast Guard vessel with more than 900 migrants rescued in seven operations is expected to reach Italy’s shores on Wednesday.

While Spain’s foreign minister said he hoped its gesture of solidarity would help push other EU members to re-examine migrant policy at a summit later this month, French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Italy’s cynicism and irresponsibility for leaving the migrants at sea, while also deflecting criticism for not allowing the ship to dock in France.

Macron’s spokesperson, Benjamin Grivaux, said France doesn’t want to “start a precedent” that would allow some European countries to breach international laws and rely on other EU member states. But he quoted Macron as telling Tuesday’s weekly cabinet meeting: “If any ship was closer to France’s shores, it could obviously dock on the French coast.”

Spanish Foreign Minister Joseph Borrel said late Monday that “Spain has made a gesture that aims to trigger a European dynamic to stop looking away, allowing one (EU member) to cope with the problem while the rest of us pass the buck.”

Hungary’s radically anti-immigrant prime minister praised Salvini’s move. Viktor Orban said his initial reaction to the news was a sigh of “Finally!” He called it “a great moment which may finally bring changes in Europe’s migration policies.”