On Tuesday 25 September, the European Commission repeated that there is no European responsibility for the Aquarius ship, which no longer flies under any flag after Panama withdrew its flag, and the French government asks Malta to allow the ship to land so that 58 people rescued off the coast of Libya can leave the ship.
In response to a request from two NGOs, SOS Méditerranée and Médecins Sans Fontières, to allow the ship to land in Marseilles, France wanted a European solution to be found on Monday, but the Commission said on Tuesday that it had not been contacted by either the French government or by other member states.
It is known that the people most involved are in talks, said the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU. In fact, Paris suggested on Tuesday morning that the ship, which would take four or five days to reach Marseilles, to land first in Malta, reports AFP, citing an Élysée source. Portugal innocent during the day that it had agreed with Paris and Madrid to take ten of the 58 migrants.
Faced with this new conundrum, the Greens/EFA group at the European Parliament is calling for a debate on the issue in plenary next week. The request will be studied on Thursday 27 September by the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament’s political groups.
The European Commission added on Tuesday that the legality of international law placed responsibility for Aquarius’ landing in the hands of the Libyan authorities since the rescue operations took place in Libya’s waters along with the Libyan coastguards.
International treaties stipulate that if a ship is in a country’s waters, (up to 12 sea miles off its coast), then that country is responsible for the ship’s landing.
The Commission refused on Tuesday to allow people to think that it didn’t care about the fate of the people on the ship, hoping that a solution would be found as soon as possible. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)