MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th August, 2019) European Parliament President David Sassoli said on Thursday that EU nations must share out 121 migrants stranded aboard a Spanish ship in the Mediterranean.
The Proactiva Open Arms charity said on Twitter the ship had spent seven days at sea in search of a safe port after Italy and Malta refused to let it in. There are reportedly 31 children among the migrants.
"I am convinced that your awareness of what is at stake ... will ensure that you are up to the task of dealing with this emergency as well, by coordinating prompt humanitarian intervention and arranging for the fair distribution of the migrants," Sassoli wrote in a letter to the head of the European Commission.
Sassoli told President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker he was aware that the decision to take migrants in must be voluntary. But he stressed the situation was serious and called for immediate action.
The ship is reported to be near Lampedusa, an Italian island where several migrant rescue vessels have attempted to dock over past months, stirring controversy about illegal immigration.
