Tunisia allows boat with 40 migrants to dock after two-week wait

Tunisia on Saturday said it would take in 40 migrants, including two pregnant women, rescued by a commercial vessel.

2 min read

29 July, 2018

The ship has been blocked for two weeks from docking [File Photo: Getty]

Tunisia said it would take in 40 migrants, including two pregnant women, rescued by a commercial vessel, reports confirmed on Saturday.

Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said his country would accept the migrants "for humanitarian reasons", after being stuck at sea for weeks.

The African migrants, five of whom are women, set off from Libya and were lost at sea for five days before being spotted.

The ship, the "Sarost 5" a Tunisian flagged supply boat, has been blocked for two weeks from docking off Zarzis in southern Tunisia.

"Despite this delay in making this decision we are happy and relieved," the captain of the Sarost 5, Ali Hajji, told AFP.

The news comes as reports confirm Spain rescued more than 1,200 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea over the past two days, with the country's interior minister calling on Saturday for a pan-European solution to the migrant crisis.

Fernando Grande-Marlaska said following a trip to the southwestern Cadiz region Spain had now seen "on the ground, the problems that exist, the problem of immigration which is a European problem which requires a European solution".

The minister was on a fact-finding visit to learn how police and the Red Cross are dealing with the influx of migrants.

Earlier on Saturday, the maritime rescue service said on Twitter it had rescued 334 people from 17 boats.

On Friday, coastguards picked up 888 people in a single day.

"It was to be expected," minister Grande-Marlaska said, criticising the previous conservative government of Mariano Rajoy for a "lack of foresight".

He said the government was working against the clock to open "a centre" in the port of Andalusia with room for 600 people.

The incident further increases pressure on Spain, which has now surpassed Italy as the number one destination for migrants crossing the Mediterranean by boat.

More than 19,580 people have landed on Spanish shores so far this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

On Friday, the IOM said at least 1,500 migrants have died this year attempting to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean.

The UN agency also said that 2018 marks the fifth straight year that at least 1,500 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean.