SAFE HARBOUR
100 children on board the 'Aquarius' will be accommodated in Alicante
VALENCIA port is expected to welcome tomorrow (Saturday) the 629 migrants who were on board the Aquarius rescue vessel shunned by Italian and Maltese authorities.
Passengers include 123 children. 100 are unaccompanied minors, aged 12 to 18, who will be transferred to La Florida juvenile care home in Alicante.
After NGOs SOS Mèditeranée and Doctors Without Borders accepted the offer made by Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez´ and ratified by regional authorities in Valencia, 500 of the 629 migrants on board the Aquarius were transferred to two Italian sea rescue vessels and all three are now heading for Valencia - after receiving emergency supplies provided by Italian rescue services before leaving their waters.
In addition to the children, the passengers, who were picked up by the Aquarius on Saturday after leaving Libya in feeble boats, include 11 babies and seven pregnant women.
Towns throughout the Costa Blanca have offered temporary refuge to the migrants.
VALENCIA is gearing up for the arrival of rescue vessel Aquarius after picking up 629 people and not being allowed to dock in Italy or Malta
The migrants that were denied access to other European ports will disembark in Valencia on Saturday.
All 629 people from sub-Saharan countries were spotted floating around in rubber boats in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea last Friday night.
They were trying to reach European shores aboard small boats, but it was clear they were not going to make it by themselves, and the Italian navy, coastguards and merchant vessels helped save 400 of them. Later, NGO SOS Mediterranée’s Aquarius vessel reached the scene and managed to save the remaining 229, even after one of the rubber boats burst.
The Aquarius vessel then took on board all 629 migrants and sought permission from the country with the nearest coast to disembark. However, these countries, Italy and Malta, both refused to let them dock, condemning them to seek asylum elsewhere.
With the rescue ship unable to withstand lengthy voyages carrying so many people on board, a catastrophic humanitarian crisis loomed – but Spain came to the rescue.
New PM Pedro Sánchez confirmed that a Spanish port would be made available for the Aquarius. After coordinating with Valencia region president Ximo Puig and Valencia city mayor Joan Ribó, the migrants were offered Valencia’s port to dock.
They immediately accepted and set course towards Valencia after transferring some of the migrants to two Italian sea rescue vessels that were sent out to help take them to safety.
The small flotilla set out on Tuesday afternoon - and the journey is expected to take them three days. Meaning they would arrive in Valencia tomorrow (Saturday) evening- depending on conditions at sea.
Spreading hope
Since the offering was made, demonstrations of solidarity have poured in from across the Costa Blanca and the whole country.
Meanwhile, Valencia hastily got to work on the logistics. Initially the America’s Cup infrastructure was to be used as a base to coordinate the offering of aid to those who arrive, but the coinciding of a rock concert in the area led authorities to change the arrival location to the cruise-´liner and ferries terminal. The Red Cross has mustered up 70 volunteers to help.
The fact that, of the 629 people aboard the vessels, 123 of them are minors and seven women are pregnant, means that specialised healthcare needs will have to be met as soon as they arrive.
Furthermore, they have not had food for several days, so hunger and dehydration are also urgent concerns to be addressed.
What happens next?
Although it was initially said that the government would grant all 629 migrants the legal status of refugees once they disembark, government sources have since been more ambiguous.
One thing is sure: they will not be considered illegal immigrants, which would have resulted in the migrants being taken to a migration detention centre (CIE) under police surveillance.
Instead, they will be offered shelter and basic financial aid until each case can be processed individually. In those cases where refugee status can be confirmed, they will be able to request asylum in Spain.
In these cases central government will be in charge of allocating them to the various Spanish regions as is seen fit.
In the case of the approximately 100 unaccompanied minors (age 12 to 17), they will be temporarily allocated in La Florida juvenile care centre run by the regional government in Alicante. The centre has 176 rooms that can be used
Younger children and minors accompanied by their families will stay in Valencia.
Six different ministries are coordinating efforts to handle the situation. The ministry of defence has offered logistical support if needed and the ministries of foreign affairs, in- terior, employment and migrations, public works and transport, and the PM`'s office are working together.
A statement by the PM's residence at Moncloa Palace said, "It is our duty to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a secure port for these people."
The statement went on to say that Spain wanted to comply with its international responsibilities on humanitarian crises.
Sr Sánchez's statement was immediately greeted by EU authorities and the government has been directly in contact with EU president JeanClaude Juncker.
Foreign affairs minister Josep Borrell has announced his intention of raising the migration subject at the forthcoming European Council summit at the end of this month. Despite its gesture, the government is adamant this is not a problem of Spain, Italy or Malta, but an EU problem.
The days of Aquarius
The ordeal of the Aquarius, a rescue ship belonging to French SOS Mediterranée charity, began on Sunday.
The migrants had been rescued from flimsy smugglers' boats in the Mediterranean during a series of operations on Saturday by Italian maritime ships, cargo vessels and the Aquarius itself. It said some of the passengers were suffering from water in their lungs as well as chemical burns caused when gasoline mixes with seawater.
The UN refugee agency, the European Union, Germany and humanitarian groups had all demanded that the Mediterranean countries put their domestic politics aside and urgently consider the plight of the rescued migrants, which included children, pregnant women and people suffering from hypothermia.
Italy and Malta held firm despite the heavy diplomatic pressure, with Italy's new interior minister, Matteo Salvini, clearly using the high seas drama as a pretext to force the hand of Italy's European neighbours.
"Enough!" Mr Salvini said. "Saving lives is a duty, but transforming Italy into an enormous refugee camp isn't."
But the diplomatic standoff had left the migrants stranded at sea and revealed the tough negotiating tactics of Italy's new anti-immigrant government.
Italy and Malta thanked Spain's PM for the offer to receive the SOS Mediterranée's cue ship Aquarius at the port of Valencia, and Salvani regarded the outcome as 'a victory' for Italy.
Both Maltese premier Joseph Muscat and new Italian premier Giuseppe Conte readily thanked Spain for the offer, with Mr Conte saying, "It goes in the direction of solidarity".