Portugal, Spain, France agree to take in Aquarius migrants
PARIS/LISBON: France, Portugal and Spain on Tuesday struck a deal to take in migrants from the Mediterranean rescue ship Aquarius, the Portuguese Interior Ministry said, after the Italian government refused to let the vessel dock.
Portugal said it had agreed to take 10 of the 58 migrants on board as part of a “response of solidarity to the flow of migrants seeking to reach Europe across the Mediterranean”.
It was not immediately clear how many migrants France and Spain had agreed to take in or where the ship would dock.
Earlier on Tuesday, France said it was not ready to let the Aquarius dock in Marseille, as suggested by the charities operating the ship. “For the moment it’s ‘no’,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said when asked on BFM TV if Paris was ready to respond positively to a request from the charities for permission to dock in the southern French port.
Le Maire said ships were supposed to dock at the nearest port under European rules and Marseille was not the nearest.
“On matters of migration, the issue must be handled firmly and clearly, and European rules respected,” the minister said. On Sunday, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini of the far-right League Party said the Aquarius had hindered the work of the Libyan coast guard and Italy’s ports would remain shut.
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