ZCZC
BFF-44
EUROPE-MIGRANTS-SPAIN-RESCUE
Over 400 migrants saved off Spain: rescue service
TARIFA, Spain, June 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A total of 418 migrants were
rescued in three operations off the coast of Spain on Saturday, the national
rescue service said.
In the largest of these, 262 people on 15 vessels were rescued in the
Strait of Gibraltar, Salvamento Maritimo said on Twitter.
Twenty-seven others were found in the Mediterranean between Spain and
Morocco and 129 more off the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
The operations come six days after 630 migrants arrived in the Spanish port
of Valencia aboard three vessels, including the NGO rescue ship Aquarius.
The Aquarius rescued the migrants off Libya’s coast on June 9 but Italy’s
new populist government and Malta both refused to let it dock, triggering an
international outcry, before Spain stepped in to help.
Germany has called an EU mini summit for Sunday to discuss the migration
issue.
Spain was the third most popular destination for migrants in the European
Union last year after Italy and Greece.
Most migrants travel in packed boats from Morocco’s northern shore to
Spain’s southern coast, a distance of over 100 kilometres (60 miles)
depending on the route.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1803 hrs