A total of 134 rescued migrants remain on board Spain's Open Arms charity rescue boat, which Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's has blocked from docking at the Lampedusa port for over two weeks, the Proactiva Open Arms non-governmental organization said Friday
MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2019) A total of 134 rescued migrants remain on board Spain's Open Arms charity rescue boat, which Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's has blocked from docking at the Lampedusa port for over two weeks, the Proactiva Open Arms non-governmental organization said Friday.
The Open Arms rescue ship has been anchored off the coast of Italy for 15 days, waiting to receive permission to dock in Lampedusa. Salvini, who is also the leader of the right-wing Lega party, has been at heads with fellow ministers over the issue and continues to push to ban the migrants from stepping on Italian soil, despite six European countries agreeing to take them.
"We are living on board in unbearable agony. Six emergency evacuations in these two weeks ... The rights of 134 people are being violated every passing minute," the Open Arms charity tweeted.
Additionally, the charity said that several migrants were evacuated off the boat over the past 24 hours due to severe trauma and need for medical assistance.
On Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte told Salvini in an open letter that France, Germany, Romania, Portugal, Spain and Luxembourg were prepared to accept the rescued migrants.
On Wednesday, an Italian court defied Salvini's ban on migrant rescue boats and allowed Open Arms to enter the national waters. At the time, Salvini said he would challenge the ruling to suspend his decree and threatened to fine charities rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean up to $1.1 million and the loss of the ship.
