The commander of the ship of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, anchored a few hundred meters from the port of Lampedusa, Friday described an "explosive" situation among migrants banned from disembarking. After the evacuation of a dozen people for medical care, in the night from Thursday to Friday, there are 134 migrants on board, embarked for two weeks.
"This situation has become unsustainable"
"Everyone is psychologically broken, this situation has become unsustainable," said the boat's captain, Marc Reig, to the Spanish television channel TVE. "With each passing second, the bomb is coming in. Or someone cuts the red wire and turns off the bomb now, or the Open Arms will explode." "It's inhuman, we're close to the mainland and people could swim there, they want to jump into the water," said the captain.
In a tweet, the NGO also mentions threats of suicide and requires a landing for "humanitarian emergency".
The situation on board is insosensible.
Amenazas of suicido. Conatos de violencia. Todas las personas están física y psicológicamente rotas. Al límite.
Necesitan ser evacuadas de forma inmediata. # PuertoSeguroYApic.twitter.com / j47kXyXNy3
Salvini says he will not give in
"I will not give in," Interior Minister Matteo Salvini warned Friday night that the Spanish NGO was "mocking the world for the umpteenth time". Commenting on the state of health of thirteen migrants evacuated from the boat, he felt that they were all well except a person suffering from a small "otitis".
For Matteo Salvini, the ship "Open Arms" has made pirouettes in the Mediterranean for days with the sole purpose of collecting as many people as possible to bring them always and only in Italy. "During all this time he would have made three trips back and forth to a Spanish port! These NGOs ultimately only deliver political battles, on the backs of migrants and against our country," he said.