Spain may take in Eritrean migrants
Source:    Eritrean Democratic League (EDL)

Wednesday July 19, 2006 16:08 - (SA)

MADRID - Spain has said that it could take in some of the 51 Eritreans
picked up by a Spanish trawler off Malta whom Valetta refuses to accept.
Quoted by Europa Press, Deputy Foreign Minister Bernardino Leon said Spain
would "give priority to the humanitarian nature" of the problem, calling the
situation "worrying."
However, he insisted that from a legal point of view "it should be up to
Libya followed by Malta" to take in the Eritreans.
He said he hoped to see a definitive solution within hours involving
"several countries of the European Union."
The Eritreans began a fifth day drifting at sea aboard the trawler Francisco
Catalina on the edge of Maltese territorial waters on Wednesday, amid a
diplomatic standoff over their fate.
The government in Valletta is insisting the migrants should either be
Spain's or Libya's concern, given the fishing boat's Spanish registration
and the fact that they were picked up in Libya's search-and-rescue zone on
Saturday.
Maltese, Libyan and Spanish authorities have failed to find a solution to
the impasse while the United Nations (UN) refugee agency has described the
situation as "an emergency".
The standoff signals a tough new policy by the European Union's smallest
member state, which claims it already has more than its share of illegal
immigrants - more than 2,000 - seeking to reach Europe's shores from Africa.

A pregnant woman and mother and child were temporarily taken off the trawler
on Tuesday to receive medical treatment on the Mediterranean island, before
being taken back to the trawler, authorities said.
A Spanish immigration officer also went aboard the vessel, which is being
shadowed by a Maltese naval vessel, with an interpreter on Tuesday to
interview the migrants.