Refused by Malta and Italy: Boat with 300 migrants arrives in Spain after a week at sea

A Spanish aid boat, carrying over 300 migrants rescued at sea, arrived in Spain on Friday, ending a week-long journey across the western Mediterranean.

The boat, operated by the nonprofit group Proactiva Open Arms, docked at the Spanish port of Algeciras.

The boat rescued 313 migrants from the sea near Libya last week, but had to travel to Spain after Malta refused it permission to dock and Italy and other countries also refused to help. Three of the migrants were later evacuated for health reasons.

Oscar Camps, head of Proactiva Open Arms, said on Friday that the group of migrants included “19 different nationalities, with many people with the right to ask for asylum.”

In June, Spain opened its ports to another aid ship belonging to SOS Mediterranee Sea and Doctors Without Borders carrying over 600 rescued migrants after Italy and Malta refused to let it dock.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, over 2,200 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean this year in unseaworthy smugglers’ boats while 119,336 have reached Europe.

Yesterday, Spain’s Foreign Ministry gave permission to an aid boat carrying 311 rescued migrants to set course for Spain after Italy and other Mediterranean countries did not answer its request to dock.

Spain’s Foreign Ministry said Malta denied the aid boat permission to dock and the boat’s calls to Italy, France, Tunisia and Libya have gone unanswered.

The aid group said it now has permission to enter the Spanish port of Algeciras. On its Twitter account, Proactiva said: “It will be many difficult days of sailing, but we have a safe port.”

In June, Italy and Malta denied entrance to another aid ship belonging to SOS Mediterranee Sea and Doctors Without Borders that was carrying over 600 rescued migrants. Spain granted it entry to end its week-long saga at sea, as Spain’s new centre-left government made the humane treatment of migrants one of its first policy decisions, in contrast with the hard-line taken by Italy’s populist leaders.

According to the UN refugee agency, over 2,200 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea this year in unseaworthy smugglers’ boats and 117,540 migrants have reached Europe.