Macron accuses Italy of cynicism over migrant ship

France says neighbour acted irresponsibly by leaving hundreds of migrants stranded at sea

EMMANUEL MACRON, the French president, yesterday accused Italy of “cynicism and irresponsibility” for leaving a rescue ship carrying hundreds of African migrants stranded at sea, amid recriminations in the EU over the response to the crisis.

As the 629 migrants on the rescue ship Aquarius yesterday began a threeday passage towards a “safe harbour” in Spain, EU states exchanged barbs over policies that had left them adrift in the Mediterranean since Saturday.

Benjamin Griveaux, the French government’s spokesman, said Mr Macron told a cabinet meeting that as the country with the closest coastline, Italy had a duty under maritime law to accept the vessel. “There is a degree of cynicism and irresponsibility in the Italian government’s behaviour with regards to this dramatic humanitarian situation,” Mr Griveaux quoted the French president as saying.

The “behaviour and the political instrumentalisation of the Italian government” was “unacceptable”, the spokesman said.

The Gibraltar-flagged Aquarius, operated jointly by Médecins Sans Frontières and SOS Mediterranée, was left in limbo after Malta said it was Italy’s responsibility and the new populist government in Rome refused to allow it to dock. Successive Italian administrations have complained that the country has been left to cope alone with the influx of arrivals from Africa, which has seen 700,000 people land on its shores since 2013.

Under the Dublin Regulation, asylum requests must be processed in the country in which migrants first set foot – a system which many argue places an unfair burden on southern European countries such as Italy, Greece and Spain. Attempts to reach an agreement on distributing refugees through the 28 member states have repeatedly fallen flat.

The issue is expected to figure heavily at the June 28-29 summit in Brussels. It has fuelled the rise of anti-immigrant parties in several European countries, including Italy, where Matteo Salvini, the interior minister, has vowed a hardline policy.

He proclaimed “victory” after Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s new centre-left prime minister, stepped in on Monday with an offer of a “safe harbour” in Valencia. In an audio message passed to The Daily Telegraph by SOS Mediterranée, one of the migrants said that in Libya they had been treated like slaves. “It is like you are living in hell,” he said.

 A Spanish aid group dedicated to saving migrants crossing the Mediterranean says Pep Guardiola donated €150,000 (£132,000) to repair one of its ships that had been impounded by Italy. Òscar Camps, the Proactiva Open Arms founder, has told Catalan radio RAC1 that the Manchester City coach made the donation.