- ABC News
- June 14, 2018
Rejected elsewhere, migrant ship set to dock
For 629 migrants on board a ship in the Mediterranean Sea, this weekend could mark the end of an international controversy over their final destination. On Saturday, Spain plans to welcome the Aquarius ship, which has been making an 800-mile humanitarian journey with international supervision due to safety concerns. The ship's final destination was confirmed after Italy, Malta and France stopped fighting and procrastinating over where the ship should be allowed to dock. On Sunday, Italy's new anti-migrant interior minister, Matteo Salvini, blocked the ship from docking in Sicily, saying Italy had already taken in enough migrants -- 640,000 over the last five years. But then, after Malta said "no," Spain unexpectedly said "yes." "It was our duty to accept these migrants," Idoia Oneba of the Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR) told ABC News. "We hope they will arrive safe - as the boat was overcrowded and the journey is exhausting." There are 11 children and seven pregnant...