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The ship at the Spanish Pavilion "Open Arms" arrived shortly before midnight on 20 August 2019 at the port of Lampedusa, Sicily. REUTERS / Guglielmo Mangiapane

The hundred or so migrants rescued off Libya on board the humanitarian ship Open Arms landed on Tuesday night, August 20, on the Italian island of Lampedusa. The Italian prosecutor of Agrigento had ordered the landing of the migrants and the sequestration of the ship that had been anchored a few miles away for 19 days.

The ship entered the port at 23:30 local time, to the applause of fifty residents who came to greet the migrants and the crew. Migrants descend in small groups. They are taken in photographs and after quick sanitary controls, they board a minibus that takes them to the temporary reception center of Lampedusa. There are about four minibuses, so it takes several shuttles, reports our special envoy to Lampedusa, Juliette Gheerbrant ..

Migrants rescued off Libya by the Open Arms humanitarian ship of the Spanish humanitarian organization roactiva Open Arms landed in Lampedusa on 20 August 2019. REUTERS / Guglielmo Mangiapane

The entrance to the ship was a surprise and a highlight, quite moving for the people who came here. And you imagine it, obviously for the crew and the passengers. A very smiling crew. It was calm on board with smiling faces also among the migrants, but often still tense, sad, with certain looks that bordered on despair.

Spain sent a ship to pick up the migrants. We do not know what will happen now. But as Claudio said, an Italian already crossed a few days ago and who came to welcome them: " the important thing is that they are finally on dry land and safe ".

Migrants from the "Open Arms" on their arrival in Lampedusa, August 20, 2019. REUTERS / Guglielmo Mangiapane

After an inspection by the judicial police and two doctors, the Agrigento prosecutor, Luigi Patronaggio, himself on board the Open Arms , decided this Tuesday shortly after his return to the mainland that the survivors had to be landed on the small Sicilian island, the tense situation on board required it, he estimates.

Stationed since Thursday a few hundred meters from the coast of Lampedusa, these migrants were denied access to the island by the Italian authorities, although six European countries (France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and Spain) have committed to welcoming them.

A little earlier, in a desperate gesture, about fifteen of the hundred migrants collected had fled to the water to try to reach the island to swim. They were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard and brought to the island.

In a gesture of despair at the coast at hand, migrants transported by the "Open Arms" jumped into the water, before being rescued by the Italian Coast Guard. REUTERS / Guglielmo Mangiapane

The Italian prosecutor has also taken the decision to put the Open Arms in receivership, as part of an investigation against X for kidnapping of persons, omission and refusal of official acts, which Matteo Salvini said on Facebook. it is aimed directly at him.

đź”´đź”´ # ULTIMAHORA đź”´đź”´
The taxation of Agrigento dictamina desembarco inmediato de todas las personas a bordo #OpenArms en el puerto de #Lampedusa and the provisional incest of the barco.
For the end, it was the pesadilla y las 83 personas a bordo recibirán asistencia inmediata en tierra pic.twitter.com/z4rYtTmtP0

Open Arms (@openarms_fund) August 20, 2019

Faced with the refusal of Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini to let them land, Spain, the country of the NGO Proactiva Open Arms that charters the boat, ended Tuesday by sending a military ship to Lampedusa to come take directly in charge of the migrants and bring them to Mallorca, about one thousand kilometers from Sicily. The boat is gone and its mission is not called into question by the decision of the Italian justice, reports our correspondent in Madrid, François Musseau.

The ship Audaz , one of six Spanish military ships, which can carry up to 2.5 tons, took off from the Rota base in Andalusia, heading for the island of Lampedusa that the ship is expected to join in three days, that is Friday, August 23rd. " I prepared myself for all eventualities during this mission. We are 62 crewmen on board, I have embarked as a reinforcement a doctor and four men of marine infantry. We calculated three days of sea until Lampedusa, I hope to be there Friday afternoon. This is the first mission for this ship that is recent, it was delivered to the army in July 2018, we spent a year to prepare for this type of mission ", entrusted the captain of corvette Emilio Damian Marquès before 'sail.

Spain - Open Arms - Italy: an open conflict with three bands

But for now, the interim government led by Socialist Pedro Sanchez has the intention to take the situation in hand. According to his executive, this is a humanitarian emergency that has lasted for almost three weeks, and this government considers that it is partly in his responsibility since the Open Arms boat is flying the Spanish flag, and is owned by of the Catalan humanitarian association of the same name.

Proactiva Open Arms, the association charters the eponymous ship, is at the heart of Spanish politics. Pedro Sanchez's government does not have a harsh word against this Catalan organization, founded in 2015 by first responder Oscar Camps , who does not respect national legislation, who illegally practices the drafting of migrants at sea.

Proactiva Open Arms is in open conflict with Madrid, which is why the humanitarian organization refuses to land in a Spanish port, because it would be liable to a record fine, we speak of a million euros and can -being even under pressure for some of its members like Captain Marc Reig. Conflict also opened with Italy, which does not support that the Open Arms works near its littoral, that of Lampedusa, in its territorial waters, trying to force a landing of the rescued migrants. The director and founder Oscar Camps takes things philosophically. For him, the very fact of rescuing migrants sentenced to a perilous crossing is in itself a challenge, and an activity that disturbs states. For the Catalan organization, there is no question of stopping or giving up as long as there are migrants at sea, who risk their lives.

Finally, another open conflict opposes this time the two states in question, Spain and Italy. " What Salvini does about the Open Arms is a shame for humanity, " Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles denounced in the press, pointing to " exclusively electoral purposes ".

â–şRead too - "Open Arms": the wrath of the mayor of Lampedusa