On both sides of Atlantic Ocean, migrants get hostile receptions

MILAN» On both sides of the Atlantic, migrants flooding across borders by the hundreds each day have met a hostile reception and governments unable to agree on how to cope with the arrivals. In Europe, where far-right parties have joined the governments in Italy and Austria and made gains elsewhere, even the most basic decision of which port would accept a ship filled with migrants has been fraught.

On Tuesday, yet another rescue boat loaded with migrants struggled to find safe harbor in the Mediterranean, while in Austria police cadets playing the role of desperate refugees rattled a chain-link fence demanding to be let in as part of a high-profile training exercise to test the mettle of a new border force charged with preventing an influx of migrants.

“We have had migratory crises in the past, but that is not what we are going through now. What we are living through now is a European political crisis,” French President Emmanuel Macron said after a daylong meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican during which they discussed the issue.

The European crisis mirrors the one in the United States, where a broad-ranging Republican immigration bill was set for a vote Wednesday, with little certainty that it would survive.

The standoffs in Europe involve multiple governments, all running their own immigration policies but with open borders among them.

Twice this month, as calm seas and warm weather spurred greater numbers to set sail, rescue ships filled with migrants have been left in a holding pattern in the Mediterranean. The latest standoff involves the German-operated Lifeline, which has sailed for five days without safe harbor. France, Portugal, Italy and at least one other country agreed to divide up the migrants on board, and said Malta would take in the ship.

But the German aid group operating the ship said Malta had sent a message refusing entry into its territorial waters, further confusing an agreement that had taken days to negotiate.

Malta also flatly refused to accept an empty rescue ship, the Aquarius, which needed some mechanical work before it could resume its sweeps of the Mediterranean. The ship headed to the French port city of Marseille instead.

It was the Aquarius that touched off last week’s showdown, when the ship, operated by French aid groups and carrying 630 migrants, had its journey to land extended by a week after Malta and Italy refused docking rights. Spain ultimately accepted the passengers, and the Aquarius traveled an additional 900 miles to get there.

“It’s five useless days to come here when the Aquarius is not on the migrant route to rescue, and that’s a shame in terms of saving human lives,” Frederic Penard of SOS Mediterranee said in Marseille, where the ship was expected on Friday. Italy, which believes the rescue ships operated by aid groups only encourage more migrants, also refused docking in Sicily.

Italy’s new right-wing interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has contended that the rescue boats essentially provide “taxi service” at sea for the human traffickers.

But with calm seas and fair weather, more migrants continued to take their chances crossing from North Africa.

Spain’s Maritime Rescue Service picked up over 400 people from the Mediterranean on Monday, bringing the total number of rescued migrants to around 1,800 in just four days.

Macron has pushed for asylum demands to be processed in North Africa before the rickety boats attempt the crossing, but so far no country in the region has agreed to play host.

Algeria has expelled more than 13,000 migrants into the Sahara Desert since last May, forcing them to walk without food or water, according to an Associated Press investigation. And in Libya, which has turned back dozens of migrant boats, there have been complaints of rampant human rights abuses against migrants in detention.

On Tuesday, Austrian police staged a high-profile training exercise simulating an influx of migrants along its frontier with Slovenia to demonstrate how it would deal with such a crisis.

Hundreds of officers in heavy armor, backed by soldiers and Black Hawk helicopters flying overheard, performed a dry run for the media near Spielfeld, 110 miles south of Vienna. The town was a major crossing point for migrants in late 2015, but has hardly seen any arrivals recently.

The “migrants” were played by 200 Austrian police cadets, who chanted and rattled a metal fence, demanding to be let in.

Austria’s top security official said the exercise was necessary and lawful, dismissing concerns.

“A state which, if things come to a head, can’t protect its borders effectively, loses its credibility,” Interior Minister Herbert Kickl told reporters.