At dawn on Sunday, the Aquarius, operated by SOS Méditerranée and Médecins Sans Frontières, and the Dattilo of the Italian Coast Guard arrived in Valencia.
The Aquarius, operated by SOS Méditerranée and Médecins Sans Frontières, arrived in Valencia on Sunday morning. Waiting to welcome her on the shores of the Spanish city were two thousand citizens who had gathered to show their solidarity with the 629 migrants, forced to endure a lengthy journey at sea — caused by the diplomatic stand-off between Italy, Malta and the rest of Europe, and made all the more difficult by harsh sea conditions.
The staff of the two NGOs, along with the women, men and children rescued off the Libyan coast, had to wait more than a week and travel over 1,500 kilometres before being able to dock at a European port. "It is not normal to remain for such a long time on board a vessel like the Aquarius, which is designed for search and rescue operations at sea. During the days of bad weather we asked people to go inside; I clearly remember the image of a woman trying to breastfeed her child while she was vomiting," recounted Aloys Vimard, MSF coordinator on board the vessel.
"Welcome home," read a banner, translated into many languages, displayed at the Spanish port at dawn on Sunday (though several dozen anti-migrant protesters were also present, waving Spanish flags). Before being able to set foot on land, however, the migrants had to wait for hours. The lengthy identification procedures required under European rules began at 6:30 on the Dattilo, the vessel of the Italian Coast Guard, to which a portion of the 629 rescued people had been transferred and which had travelled alongside the Aquarius all the way to Valencia. Fingerprinting, individual interviews, registration.
"Arriving in Valencia," commented Claudia Lodesani, president of Médecins Sans Frontières Italy, "was pointless and inhumane. As long as there is a humanitarian need in the Mediterranean, we will continue to operate under the coordination of the Italian Coast Guard, as we have always done. At the same time, we hope that the time for hypocrisy in Europe will come to an end."
The NGO also recalled that, from the start of 2018 alone, more than 500 people have already died in the stretch of sea between the European continent and North Africa. "Since 2015," the organisation added, "when, to fill the void left by Europe after the closure of the Italian operation Mare Nostrum, we began our operations at sea, we have helped to save over 75,000 people."
