• Immigration Open Arms warns that it could disembark without permission due to tension with immigrants
  • Italy: Salvini asks to take immigrants from the Open Arms to Ibiza "to have fun"

The founder of the NGO Proactiva Open Arms has reproached the acting Minister of Development, José Luis Ábalos, for his statements in which he accused them of being "standard bearers of humanity" and reminded him of the fines and prison sentences to which they risk their rescue work in the Mediterranean.

"We jeopardize the heritage of our families, because the fines are unassumable; freedom because we can end up in jail and our professional titles; notice if we do not make decisions to disobey a kind of decree that prevents us from rescuing," said Oscar Camps to Ábalos in a COPE interview collected by Europa Press.

The founder of the NGO has requested "common sense" from the Spanish Government he accuses of "putting on profile", having not requested the intervention of the European Union to try to unlock the situation. He has also reproached the Spanish Executive for "forgetting" that the Open Arms vessel has a Spanish flag. "They should protect us, as they do with Maritime Rescue , against this situation of helplessness in which they threaten us with fines and penalties," insisted Camps, who has said "feel outrage."

Regarding the situation of the boat that has been in the Mediterranean for 11 days waiting to be able to disembark the 150 migrants who are on board, he explained that it is increasingly "complex" and has raised the possibility of asking permission to approach to port before the worsening of the weather conditions. "We cannot continue drifting with two meter waves," Camps said.

As he explained, "the situation is difficult, the ship is very small, 65 years old, the conditions are suffocating, the weather begins to be adverse; logistically we can resist whatever it takes but we will put the health of these people before any other criteria , because they have no idea what it is like to live like this. "

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • immigration
  • Italy

International Arms Arms urgently asks for a safe harbor to take 121 immigrants after Italy's refusal to disembark

Italy Salvini asks to take immigrants from Open Arms to Ibiza "to have fun"

Italy Salvini celebrates his anti-immigration victory and attacks the M5S party