Aquarius refusal was betrayal of European values, says charity boss

The head of the world’s largest humanitarian network has accused Europe of betraying its fundamental values by ignoring the plight of the rescue ship Aquarius, as the 630 people it saved finally reached Spain after eight days of desperation, closed ports and rough seas.

Malta and Italy’s refusal to take in the migrants and refugees rescued off the coast of Libya last weekend revealed the extent of the faultlines in EU migration policy, with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, condemning Rome’s “cynicism and irresponsibility”.

The fate of those on board the Aquarius was only settled after the new Spanish government offered to take them in to help avert “a humanitarian catastrophe”.

Speaking as the ship’s passengers reached Valencia on Sunday, Elhadj As Sy, the secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), praised Spain’s response but said Europe had let itself down.

“There are values that are cultural values and values of civilisation and the world often looks up to Europe for those values,” he told the Guardian. “Not because Europe really owes it to the world but because Europe embodies those values. That’s what Europe stands for, that’s what Europe is promoting in its diplomacy, in its policy in its culture, in its civilisation.

“When it comes now to applying those values and welcoming people in need – through solidarity, through care, through support, through humanity – a failure to do so is obviously a betrayal of those values.”

Even after the political tumult of the past few days, Sy said the IFRC still expected the rest of Europe “to step up to the plate like Spain did”.

Asked whether the Italian government’s stance had created a dangerous precedent, he replied: “I hope not. Despite what happened, which we regret, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Italy has been welcoming refugees in their tens of thousands over the years.”

Sy’s strong language was echoed by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which operates the Aquarius with the charity SOS Méditerranée.

“This whole episode is an indication of the failure of European migration and asylum policies,” said Karline Kleijer, head of emergencies at MSF. “It’s high time that politicians put lives before policies. If you look at European asylum and migration policies, the humanity has gone. It’s no longer about human beings but border management. We’ve lost our soul.”

Kleijer said the standoff over the Aquarius’s passengers – and the five days it had taken to sail to Spain – had limited the ship’s search-and-rescue capacity. “That might cost lives,” she said.

Hundreds of people onboard the ship were transferred to an Italian navy ship and an Italian coastguard vessel this week after Spain proposed Valencia as a safe harbour. The coastguard ship arrived at 6.20am on Sunday, followed five hours later by the Aquarius and, two hours after that, the navy vessel.

Their passengers – including at least seven pregnant women, 104 children, as well as people who had been treated for hypothermia and fuel burns – were met by the Red Cross at the docks and given medical checks.

Those needing urgent treatment were taken to hospital, while others were taken to a reception centre in the port where supplies of food, clothes, nappies and personal hygiene kits were distributed. An enormous banner hanging from the makeshift camp read “Welcome home” in Valencian, Spanish, English, French and Arabic.

The operation, which was coordinated by Valencia’s regional government, also included 400 interpreters and staff from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, who were present to help passengers fleeing war or persecution claim asylum.

Among those rescued were people from Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ghana, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Although all 630 disembarked in Spain, Macron’s government has offered to take in anyone who wishes to settle in France once the necessary procedures have been completed.

Aloys Vimard, MSF coordinator onboard the Aquarius, said the voyage to Spain had been difficult, with four-metre waves pitching the boat about and making people sick.

He said many of the passengers had recounted being tortured, sexually assaulted and enslaved while they waited to cross over from Libya.

“We’ve been hearing horrific stories. People tell us how they were exposed to a high level of violence – and even torture, including sexual violence,” he said. “It’s unfortunately very common that women are sharing these kinds of stories but we’ve also collected a significant number of testimonies from men who were exposed to this kind of violence. They were forced to witness men being raped in their cells while they were in captivity.”

Vimard said one Nigerian man had told of being pushed into forced labour in Libya. “When he was leaving his cell, he saw a pregnant woman who was looking very, very bad and suffering. She was just lying on the floor and he wanted to ask her how she felt. He was beaten by the guards because he was taking care of this woman. He had to leave and when he came back from work, he heard the woman had died.”

European leaders are due to discuss migration and asylum at a summit at the end of the month. Spain’s new foreign secretary, Josep Borrell, has described the country’s decision to welcome the Aquarius’s passengers as a “highly symbolic act” intended to jolt Europe out of its “ostrich politics” on the issue of migration.

Sy said he hoped the meeting would include recognition of “migration as a situation to manage humanely and not as a crisis or a problem to solve”. He called for leadership, courage, humanity and “a quieter dialogue about migration without the fire and emotion of politics. Looking at it in a more sober way can help to address those extremely important issues.”

He said countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Uganda had taken in millions of refugees between them with far less fuss than was being made over the arrival of 630 people in Europe.

“I’m looking forward to the day when a boat like the Aquarius can dock in any port in Europe or any other part of the world without creating this media interest and being a sensation or an exception,” Sy said.