( CNN) Hundreds of migrants who were left to drift in the Mediterranean after Italy and Malta turned them away arrived in Spain on Sunday, objective, at the least temporarily, a political crisis in Europe over policing the continent’s southern border.
Aquarius, which was originally carrying more than 600 rescued migrants, was left stranded in the Mediterranean for two days after Matteo Salvini, Italy’s hardline interior minister and leader of the anti-immigration League party, refused to allow it to dock last Sunday. After Spain offered to take in the survivors, the ship started an 800 -mile journey to the city of Valencia along with the two Italian ships, which were sent to ease the overcrowding.
Here’s what the journey has been like for those on board :D TAG 3 TT
Wednesday, June 13
Conditions on board the Aquarius worsened on Wednesday as poor weather and big waves caused dozens of people to suffer from seasickness.
At least 80 people who were pulled out of the sea by rescuers over the weekend had to be treated by physicians as waves as much as four meters high and winds of 65 kilometers per hour buffeted the vessel, according to Doctors Without Borders( MSF ), which operates the rescue ship alongside SOS Mediterranee.
That included pregnant women and a mother “who was breastfeeding her baby while vomiting at the same time, ” Aloys Vimards, MSF project coordinator on board the Aquarius, told CNN.
“In the evening, we had to move the men sleeping on the outside deck to the shelter usually reserved( for) women and children, for safety reasons, ” SOS Mediterranee’s Julie Melichar told CNN.
