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Rescue ship Aquarius arrives in Marseille, facing uncertain future

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Paris: The rescue ship Aquarius has arrived in the French port of Marseille, non-governmental organisation (NGO) SOS-Mediterranee, which operates it, said on Thursday.


The Aquarius most recently rescued 58 migrants and refugees off the coast of Libya. They were taken in by a number of EU states, after a days-long stand-off as the Aquarius waited at sea.


But the ship’s future is now uncertain, amid growing hostility from European governments to rescue operations by charities.


Flag state Panama is set to take the Aquarius off its shipping register, leaving it unable to take to sea unless it finds another flag state.


The presence of NGO rescue ships in the central Mediterranean has been seriously reduced since Italy’s populist government banned them from docking at its ports.


But on Saturday, as the Aquarius faced an uncertain future, Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms said one of its ships would resume rescue operations in the area.


Also, a group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said on Thursday they had deployed an Italian-flagged vessel to patrol the sea migration route from North Africa.


The Mediterranea’s mission is to “monitor, witness and denounce” the plight of sea migrants, the NGOs said in a statement. But a spokesman said it is also equipped to carry out rescue activities.


SOS-Mediterranee has called for protests across France and Europe on Saturday in support of charity rescue organisations.


The group has accused Italy of putting pressure on flag states to deny registration to the Aquarius. Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has denied that.


French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux ruled out allowing the Aquarius to fly the French flag.


“The answer is clear: the state is in charge of borders and nobody else,” he told broadcaster BFMTV on Thursday. Some 1,260 migrants and refugees have died this year in the central Mediterranean, according to the International Organisation for Migration. — dpa


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