'Desperation has its limits': Refugees leap out of rescue boat and try to swim to Italy after being stuck at sea for days

Several refugees tried to swim to Italy after being blocked for days from docking in the southern European country.

Four refugees in orange vests dived into the sea from Spanish rescue boat Open Arms, forcing several crew members to give chase bring them back aboard, footage released by Open Arms founder Oscar Camps shows.

“We have been warning for days, desperation has its limits,” said Mr Camps.

Mr Camps said in the video that the situation aboard had become increasingly tense after the Open Arms found itself at the centre of another standoff between the Italian government and refugee rescue boats.

The vessel has been on a search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea for 26 days and carried out its first rescue operation 17 days ago.

It had 147 stranded refugees aboard when it reached Italian waters. In the last few days, 40 have been taken by Italian coastguard vessels to Lampedusa, including a few who were ailing and 27 who said they were minors.

But far-right Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini banned the Open Arms from docking at Lampedusa, causing it to be blocked for days close to the Italian coast.

On Sunday, Spain offered its southern port of Algeciras to Open Arms for disembarking in an attempt to break the deadlock.

The office of Spain’s caretaker prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said the offer reflected the “emergency situation” on the boat and Mr Salvini’s “unconceivable response” in refusing docking.

But Algeciras lies five or six days’ sailing away from the boat’s current position, and Open Arms said it would be dangerous to accept the offer, although the group said it had not yet made a final decision.

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