Foreign Affairs

Spanish Deputy Minister Praises France’s ‘Cooperation’ For Helping With Aquarius Migrants

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Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo praised France’s “cooperation” for helping with migrants aboard the rescue ship Aquarius, she told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser Monday.

Calvo, the Spanish deputy prime minister since June 7 and a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, called France’s agreement to look into asylum applications of the migrants aboard the rescue ship from Libya an “example of cooperation” within the European Union, The Associated Press reported. Calvo said that half of 630 migrants aboard the Aquarius are requesting to be granted asylum in France. 

“Almost half the migrants have shown their willingness to seek asylum in France, which offered to welcome some of the people traveling on the ship,” according to a statement by the Spanish government, the Daily Mail reported.

“As soon as the Spanish authorities have informed us of the number of people concerned, a team from Ofpra will go on site to conduct the interviews and ensure that people are covered by the right to asylum,” said Pascal Brice, the director-general of France’s refugee rescue agency Ofpra, according to the Daily Mail. The visit should take place sometime next week.

The Aquarius rescue ship traveling from Libya was turned away from Italy by Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and later Malta before docking in Valencia, Spain.