Posted on 06/11/2018 9:54:35 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A ship carrying more than 600 rescued migrants, including 123 unaccompanied minors and seven pregnant women, remained stranded in the Mediterranean Sea on Monday after Italy's new populist government refused to allow it to dock the day before, in a move described by rescuers as unprecedented.
Matteo Salvini, Italy's hardline interior minister and leader of the anti-immigration League party, called on the country to "close the ports" and pledged Sunday to "STOP the filthy business of illegal immigration."
Supplies on the ship are beginning to run low and a number of people are in need of medical treatment, including 15 with serious chemical burns and several others suffering from hypothermia, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which operates the rescue ship Aquarius alongside SOS Méditerranée.
Spanish President Pedro Sanchez announced Monday afternoon that the ship and its passengers would be welcome in the port of Valencia.
"It is our obligation to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer 'a safe harbor' to these people, thus complying with obligations of International law," he said in a statement.
Salvini took to social media within minutes to celebrate the news. "VICTORY! 629 migrants on board of Aquarius ship, Spain-bound, our first goal has been reached!" he wrote on Facebook.
However, it is currently unclear whether such a move is possible as the Aquarius is obliged to obey the commands of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC), an arm of the government-controlled Italian Coast Guard.
It is also unclear whether the ship has enough fuel and supplies for the roughly 800-mile journey to Valencia.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
They'll head for Valencia, genius...
Winning Italian Style!
“”Point is, they wouldnt know enough to catch that.””
No doubt you’re right...
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Bravo!
.
Well, I am playing fast and loose, but I’ll be there are many who wouldn’t catch it. Thanks for the note.
they are not stranded they just need to go back
Fake news...They’re not stranded...Turn the boat around...They’ll be home in time for dinner...
Go back and “pack properly” The 3 hour tour could last decades. The ship is probably nicer than where you idiots came from. Screw the INVADERS
Thanks SeekAndFind.
Turn the ship around and send them back home.
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