Rescue boat blocked from operating in Mediterranean

BARCELONA: A Spanish charity boat which rescues migrants at sea hasbeenblockedbyauthoritiesfrom operating in the Mediterranean, the non-governmental organisation said on Monday.

The Barcelona Maritime Authority, in a letter seen by Reuters, said the charity Proactiva Open Arms had violated international agreements that rescued migrants should be taken to the closest port available.

The minority Socialist Party government has accepted hundreds of migrants rescued by Open Arms this year but anti-immigrant sentiment is on the rise in Spain, which has seen a surge in people making the dangerous crossing by sea. Open Arms, which operates in thewatersbetweensouthernEurope and Libya, has previously travelled to Spain to disembark migrants after being refused permission to do so in Italy and Malta.

“Measures were not taken to ensure the disembarkment took place as quickly as reasonably possible. In contrast, the boat had to wait with a large number of people on board and subsequently travel for several days crossing the Mediterranean to arrive to a safe port,” the letter reads.

Open Arms will not be granted permission to resume rescue operations “until an agreement with the authorities of the relevant SAR ‘search and rescue’ zones is in place,” the letter continued. — Reuters

A bus drives on the road during heavy snowfall in Reitdorf, Austria. Communities have been cut off and travel disrupted as a fresh wave of wintry weather hit southern Germany and Austria.— Reuters photo