06-11-2018, 10:38 PM
*** 12-Jun-18 World View -- Spain's offer to take in Aquarius migrants is rejected as dangerous to migrants
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Spain's offer to take in Aquarius migrants is rejected as dangerous to migrants
****
![[Image: g180611b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180611b.jpg)
Italy's new interior minister Matteo Salvini (center) savors his victory
On Monday, Spain's new prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, offered to take
in the 629 migrants on board the rescue vessel Aquarius, after both
Italy and Malta refused to allow the vessel to dock in their ports.
The Aquarius, which is owned by the NGO SOS Méditerranée, operating
under the direction of the Italian Coast Guard, picked up up the 629
migrants in six different rescue operations off Libya's coast on
Sunday. The migrants include 123 children and seven pregnant women.
After rescuing the 629 migrants, the Aquarius expected to dock, as
usual, at a port on the Italian island of Sicily, where they could
make asylum requests. Instead, Matteo Salvini, interior minister in
Italy's new anti-immigrant coalition government, ordered that the
Aquarius be refused permission to dock at an Italian port, and
demanded that the ship dock at Malta, saying "The Good Lord put Malta
closer to African shores than Sicily."
However, Malta refused to allow the Aquarius to dock, saying that
the migrants were from Libya, and therefore Italy's responsibility.
With the Aquarius running out of food and water, and with a number of
migrants requiring medical attention, the ship was stranded in the
Mediterranean Sea, about halfway between the islands of Malta and
Sicily.
On Monday afternoon, the office of Spain's prime minister Pedro
Sánchez issued this statement:
<QUOTE>"The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has given
instructions for Spain to comply with its international
commitments in matters of humanitarian crises, and has announced
that a Spanish port will welcome the Aquarius, in which 600 people
have been abandoned to their fate in the Mediterranean. ... It is
our duty to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a safe
port to these people, to comply with our human rights
obligations."<END QUOTE>
The offer was extended to dock in either Valencia or Barcelona.
Valencia is about 1,300 km from the Aquarius's current location, and
so would require two or three days to reach that destination.
However, organizers of the rescue mission, including NGOs SOS
Méditerranée and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without
Borders) are insisting that the Aquarius be permitted to dock in Italy
immediately, for two reasons.
First, the conditions on the ship are becoming increasingly desperate,
as it's overcrowded and there's a short of blankets, clean clothes,
food, and water. A 2-3 day trip in potentially stormy weather would
be dangerous to the migrants.
Second, the NGOs would like the ship to dock immediately, so that the
ship can continue to pick up the "migrants and refugees that leave
Libya in boats every day."
However, as of Monday evening, the Aquarius has received no further
instructions, and is still stranded in the same place as on Sunday
evening. The Spain Report and Euro News and BBC
****
**** Italy cries victory, portending a growing EU migrant crisis this summer
****
The peak summer migrant season is beginning, which is a huge business
where a lot of people are making a lot of money. Human traffickers
charge migrants in Libya thousands of dollars each to make the trip to
Europe. The fill each rubber dinghy with migrants to overcapacity,
and send it out into the Mediterranean Sea. There is no intention
that the rubber dinghy reach Europe directly. The dinghy will run out
of gas just a few miles out, and then a rescue boat like the Aquarius
is expected to rescue the migrants. Sometimes they're rescued, and
sometimes they drown. In some cases, it's believed that the human
traffickers notify an NGO that a dinghy is coming, and then the NGO
gets a kickback for rescuing the migrants.
In past years, Italy has begged the EU for help, as thousands of
migrants pour into the country each day. There was supposed to be a
plan to distribute migrants to all 28 EU member countries, but many
countries refused to accept any migrants at all. In past years,
Italy's previous government had threatened to close all its ports
to the migrant rescue ships, but they never did it.
So now Italy's interior minister Matteo Salvini is taking a hardline
stance, saying that he would not allow Italy to become "Europe’s
refugee camp." He is threatening to go through with the threat to
close all its ports to migrant rescue ships. This risks precipitating
a full-blown crisis with the EU.
The EU is still holding meeting on distributing migrants to
other countries, but getting nowhere. Germany's Chancellor
Angela Merkel said,
<QUOTE>"If we are unable to come up with a common response to
the migration challenges, the very foundations of the EU will be
at stake. Action is really needed."<END QUOTE>
However, there seems little likelihood that anything can be
accomplished. The migration problem has been the main issue that has
resulted in the election of new "populist" candidates in Italy and
elsewhere. From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, the
increased xenophobia and nationalism resulting from the migration
issue is extremely dangerous and destabilizing for the entire European
Union. Reuters and Politico (EU) and Guardian (London) and Daily Express (London)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Italy, Matteo Salvini,
Sicily, SOS Méditerranée, Aquarius, Libya, Malta,
Médecins Sans Frontières, Doctors Without Borders, MSF,
Spain, Pedro Sánchez, Germany, Angela Merkel
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Spain's offer to take in Aquarius migrants is rejected as dangerous to migrants
- Italy cries victory, portending a growing EU migrant crisis this summer
****
**** Spain's offer to take in Aquarius migrants is rejected as dangerous to migrants
****
Italy's new interior minister Matteo Salvini (center) savors his victory
On Monday, Spain's new prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, offered to take
in the 629 migrants on board the rescue vessel Aquarius, after both
Italy and Malta refused to allow the vessel to dock in their ports.
The Aquarius, which is owned by the NGO SOS Méditerranée, operating
under the direction of the Italian Coast Guard, picked up up the 629
migrants in six different rescue operations off Libya's coast on
Sunday. The migrants include 123 children and seven pregnant women.
After rescuing the 629 migrants, the Aquarius expected to dock, as
usual, at a port on the Italian island of Sicily, where they could
make asylum requests. Instead, Matteo Salvini, interior minister in
Italy's new anti-immigrant coalition government, ordered that the
Aquarius be refused permission to dock at an Italian port, and
demanded that the ship dock at Malta, saying "The Good Lord put Malta
closer to African shores than Sicily."
However, Malta refused to allow the Aquarius to dock, saying that
the migrants were from Libya, and therefore Italy's responsibility.
With the Aquarius running out of food and water, and with a number of
migrants requiring medical attention, the ship was stranded in the
Mediterranean Sea, about halfway between the islands of Malta and
Sicily.
On Monday afternoon, the office of Spain's prime minister Pedro
Sánchez issued this statement:
<QUOTE>"The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has given
instructions for Spain to comply with its international
commitments in matters of humanitarian crises, and has announced
that a Spanish port will welcome the Aquarius, in which 600 people
have been abandoned to their fate in the Mediterranean. ... It is
our duty to help avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and offer a safe
port to these people, to comply with our human rights
obligations."<END QUOTE>
The offer was extended to dock in either Valencia or Barcelona.
Valencia is about 1,300 km from the Aquarius's current location, and
so would require two or three days to reach that destination.
However, organizers of the rescue mission, including NGOs SOS
Méditerranée and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without
Borders) are insisting that the Aquarius be permitted to dock in Italy
immediately, for two reasons.
First, the conditions on the ship are becoming increasingly desperate,
as it's overcrowded and there's a short of blankets, clean clothes,
food, and water. A 2-3 day trip in potentially stormy weather would
be dangerous to the migrants.
Second, the NGOs would like the ship to dock immediately, so that the
ship can continue to pick up the "migrants and refugees that leave
Libya in boats every day."
However, as of Monday evening, the Aquarius has received no further
instructions, and is still stranded in the same place as on Sunday
evening. The Spain Report and Euro News and BBC
****
**** Italy cries victory, portending a growing EU migrant crisis this summer
****
The peak summer migrant season is beginning, which is a huge business
where a lot of people are making a lot of money. Human traffickers
charge migrants in Libya thousands of dollars each to make the trip to
Europe. The fill each rubber dinghy with migrants to overcapacity,
and send it out into the Mediterranean Sea. There is no intention
that the rubber dinghy reach Europe directly. The dinghy will run out
of gas just a few miles out, and then a rescue boat like the Aquarius
is expected to rescue the migrants. Sometimes they're rescued, and
sometimes they drown. In some cases, it's believed that the human
traffickers notify an NGO that a dinghy is coming, and then the NGO
gets a kickback for rescuing the migrants.
In past years, Italy has begged the EU for help, as thousands of
migrants pour into the country each day. There was supposed to be a
plan to distribute migrants to all 28 EU member countries, but many
countries refused to accept any migrants at all. In past years,
Italy's previous government had threatened to close all its ports
to the migrant rescue ships, but they never did it.
So now Italy's interior minister Matteo Salvini is taking a hardline
stance, saying that he would not allow Italy to become "Europe’s
refugee camp." He is threatening to go through with the threat to
close all its ports to migrant rescue ships. This risks precipitating
a full-blown crisis with the EU.
The EU is still holding meeting on distributing migrants to
other countries, but getting nowhere. Germany's Chancellor
Angela Merkel said,
<QUOTE>"If we are unable to come up with a common response to
the migration challenges, the very foundations of the EU will be
at stake. Action is really needed."<END QUOTE>
However, there seems little likelihood that anything can be
accomplished. The migration problem has been the main issue that has
resulted in the election of new "populist" candidates in Italy and
elsewhere. From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, the
increased xenophobia and nationalism resulting from the migration
issue is extremely dangerous and destabilizing for the entire European
Union. Reuters and Politico (EU) and Guardian (London) and Daily Express (London)
Related Articles
- EU faces new crisis as Italy demands that Malta accept African migrants (11-Jun-2018)
- Europe faces challenges with new governments in Italy, Spain and Catalonia (03-Jun-2018)
- Italy begs for help after 12,000 migrants arrive in four days (30-Jun-2017)
- EU migrant crisis moves to Italy as Austria begins closing border (13-Apr-2016)
- France, Italy have bitter feud over migrants as quota system collapses (16-Jun-2015)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Italy, Matteo Salvini,
Sicily, SOS Méditerranée, Aquarius, Libya, Malta,
Médecins Sans Frontières, Doctors Without Borders, MSF,
Spain, Pedro Sánchez, Germany, Angela Merkel
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
