France is not ready for now to let the Mediterranean rescue ship Aquarius dock and disembark dozens of migrants at the port of Marseille but suggested it do so in Malta, according to government sources.
"For the moment it’s ‘no’," finance minister Bruno Le Maire said when asked on BFM TV if Paris was ready to respond positively to a request from charities for permission to dock with 58 people aboard in the southern French port.
Mr Le Maire said ships were supposed to dock at the nearest port under European rules and Marseille was not the nearest.
"On matters of migration, the issue must be handled firmly and clearly, and European rules respected," the minister said.
Instead, France is pushing for Aquarius to dock in Malta and unload the 58 migrants on board, a source in the presidential office told AFP.
"We are clear on the fact that it shouldn’t spend four to five days at sea going towards France ou Spain or anywhere," the source said on condition of anonymity. "It needs to dock soon and it is close to Malta at the moment."
Aquarius 2 is the one remaining charity rescue vessel still operating in the Central Mediterranean area, picking up migrants who are in many cases trying to get to Europe from Libya.
The charity groups suffered a major blow on Monday, when in addition to the recent barring of their boats at Italian ports, Panama authorities revoked the Aquarius vessel’s registration.
In a strongly-worded statement, the organisations said they were “reeling” from the decision and blamed Italy’s coalition for exerting pressure on the Panamanian government to have the ship’s license withdrawn.
They said the Panama Maritime Authority had been “forced” to revoke the registration of the search and rescue vessel “under blatant economic and political pressure from the Italian government.”
Humanitarian boats loaded with rescued migrants are increasingly shunted between European governments under political pressure to stem newcomers.
The EU has trained Libya’s coast guard in sea rescues, but aid groups say Libya in no way meets the definition of a safe harbor.