Around 500 migrants were rescued at sea off Crete, prompting Athens to appeal to European “solidarity” for their care. These people “have been landed, we are still counting them,” a spokeswoman for the Greek coast guard said. The Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarachi, spoke of “some 500” people on board this boat in very poor condition and overloaded.
Athens immediately called on the European Commission “to activate relocations to other member states in the name of European solidarity.”
The Twenty-seven, who are facing each other over the immigration issue, will meet on November 25 on this thorny issue after the Franco-Italian crisis over the reception of another migrant ship, the Ocean Viking.
The photos taken when the ship docked mainly showed men on the deck of a ship about twenty meters long, obviously very old and rusty.
The divided European Union
The coast guard had been alerted just after midnight when strong winds blew over this area on the southwestern tip of Crete, Greece’s largest island.
Two Italian freighters, an oil tanker and two fishing boats were nearby to provide assistance, they said.
The issue of migration is the bone of contention among the Twenty-seven. They are divided on the solidarity mechanisms that will be put in place to alleviate the countries in the front line in receiving immigrants, particularly in the Mediterranean.
Central European countries are hostile to any relocation of immigrants to their territory, while the Dublin regulation entrusts the examination of an asylum application to the country through which the candidate entered the EU.
Source: BFM TV
