• Open Arms: The 'excuses' for not disembarking in Spain: from the "dignity" of immigrants to air travel
  • Interview: The mayor of Lampedusa: "If I took the Open Arms, I would enter the port of Lampedusa"

Faced with the emergency situation declared in the Open Arms, the evacuation of 8 people "in need of urgent assistance" and one companion have been authorized, according to the social aid organization itself.

"Who does not want to see the unsustainable situation on board is that they are unable to empathize with the pain of others," they say from the organization after reporting the "authorized" evacuation.

Earlier this Tuesday, the founder of the NGO Oscar Camps has informed through his Twitter account that one of the immigrants on board has launched into the water and Italian coastguards have intervened.

An immigrant throws himself into the water to get to LampedusaEL MUNDO / @campsoscar

By midmorning, nine migrants were already trying to reach the coast of Lampedusa "desperately" by swimming. "Our Italian lifeguards and coastguards are trying to rescue them," the NGO has tweeted, "the situation is out of control." The nine have already been rescued and taken to an ambulatory on the mainland, as established by the legislation. Around 13 hours, the 24-hour channel reported two other men to the water and one of them is already on Italian soil.

The Open Arms crisis, which has kept more than 100 people blocked at sea for 18 days , has intensified the tension between the governments of Spain and Italy and these with the NGO, which continues to see the possibility of setting sail to the Balearic Islands and has proposed to move immigrants by plane.

One day after the Executive first offered a port since this crisis broke out on August 1, the acting vice president, Carmen Calvo, has accused Italy of "skipping the laws" and violating "all the rules" , so it has left the door open to denounce those responsible to the International Court of Rights of the Sea of ​​Hamburg .

However, Calvo has also directed his criticism to the NGO, suggesting that he had the opportunity to dock in Malta after the Government was working "all the time" on this alternative and yet he did not.

Italy offers to escort the ship to Spain

For his part, the Italian Minister of Transport, Danilo Toninelli has offered that members of the Italian Coast Guard escort the ship to a Spanish port.

"We are willing to take, with our Coast Guard, to an Iberian port to all migrants who are on board the Open Arms," ​​said the minister through his page on the social network Facebook .

In addition, Toninelli has stressed that Spain must carry out the first step and remove its flag from the ship .

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Open arms
  • Italy
  • immigration

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