MADRID: More than150 migrants forced their way into Spain's overseas territory of Ceuta onFriday, hours after 540 people alighted in Greece as pressure on southernEuropean states continues despite an overall drop in arrivals. The massarrivals come after several charity ships that rescued migrants off the coastof Libya were denied access to Italian ports by outgoing hardline interiorminister Matteo Salvini.
On Friday,another such vessel belonging to charity Mediterranea Saving Humans warned ofan impending health emergency on board as it was stuck at sea after beingbanned from entering Italian waters. According to the latest data from theInternational Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 46,500 people hadcrossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year to August 28 and another 909 diedin the attempt.
This marks a dropfrom the same period last year when over 68,000 people crossed and 1,562 died.But southern European nations still bear the brunt of these arrivals. OnThursday, Spain's acting deputy prime minister Carmen Calvo said Europe shouldstep in more. "The countries that don't have maritime borders also need toassume shared responsibility," she told lawmakers.
Climbing thefence
In Spain's northAfrican enclave of Ceuta early on Friday, taking advantage of misty weather,155 migrants stormed the barbed wire border that separates it from Morocco.Some of them clambered over while others broke through a door in the fence."They are all from sub-Saharan Africa, the majority from Guinea," aspokesman for the central government's office in Ceuta told AFP. Ceuta andMelilla, another Spanish enclave, represent the European Union's only landerborders with Africa.
All in all,though, the number of migrants arriving in both cities this year has dropped tojust over 18 percent to 3,427 compared with 2018, according to the latestinterior ministry figures. This is the first time in a year that migrants havemanaged to storm the barbed wire fence in Ceuta as a group, the spokesman said.
Once on Spanishterritory, they are usually taken to a migrant reception centre where they canask for asylum. But Madrid has been known to send migrants back to Morocco. InAugust last year, Spain sent back 116 migrants who had forced their way intoCeuta in a mass expulsion condemned by human rights activists. It is as yetunclear what will happen in this case.
'Unprecedentedrise'
In Greece,meanwhile, around 540 migrants arrived Thursday evening on the island of Lesboson board 13 boats from nearby Turkey, including 240 children. They weretransferred to the cramped Moria migrant camp where there are "nearly11,000 people for a capacity of just 3,000," medical charity Doctors withoutBorders (MSF) said.
A Greekdiplomatic source, who refused to be named, said Athens had informed theEuropean Union about this "unprecedented rise" in the number ofmigrants. Greece has overtaken Spain this year to become the main entry pointfor migrants seeking to get to Europe. At least 23,200 people have arrived bysea so far this year, according to the IOM.
'Urgent request'
Over near Italy,Mediterranea Saving Humans said it had 34 migrants on board its ship after 64vulnerable people it had rescued, including women and children, weredisembarked on Thursday. It said it had sent a "new urgent request"for a safe port after being refused access to Italian waters. This comes at aperiod of political limbo in Italy, as the premier designate rushes to form anew left-leaning coalition which could alter Salvini's hardline stance onimmigrants.
Earlier thismonth, Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms faced a similar predicament when Italyrefused its ship permission to dock. The dozens of migrants on board remainedstuck at sea for days until an Italian prosecutor ordered they disembark on theisland of Lampedusa. Spain agreed to take in 15 of those migrants as part of adeal with France, Germany, Portugal and Luxembourg to share out the newarrivals.- AFP