GENEVA, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The decision Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made Monday to allow the ship Aquarius carrying migrants and refugees to dock in Spain is "courageous and welcome," the head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR said.
"It ends what was becoming an increasingly difficult and untenable situation for the crew of the Aquarius and the more than 600 rescued people who were aboard," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi in a statement here.
Earlier on Monday some 629 people were stranded in the Mediterranean aboard the Aquarius, said UNHCR.
Italy had refused to allow the migrant ship to enter any of its ports in the southern regions and had urged Malta to receive them.
"Our Port Authority has repeatedly wrote to authorities in Valletta (Malta's capital) in order for them to face their responsibility for the first time," Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini wrote in a joint statement with Infrastructure Minister Danilo Toninelli published on Facebook.
The vessel was in waters off Malta and Italy, but no country had allowed those aboard to disembark.
"The rescue happened in the Libyan search and rescue area and it was coordinated by the rescue coordination center in Rome. Malta is neither the coordinating authority and has no competence on this case," a Maltese government spokesperson had said.
"Irrespective of how European countries choose to manage their sea borders, the principle of rescue at sea is one that should never be in doubt," said Grandi.
He said he would welcome the opportunity to discuss with concerned governments arrangements for search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean and to avoid any repetition of the situation in which the Aquarius found itself.
So far in 2018, Italy has seen some 13,706 people arrive to the country by sea, a significant decrease from recent years, said UNHCR.
This was the first time Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's recently installed government -- formed on a coalition of far-right League and anti-establishment Five Star Movement -- decided to turn away migrants and refugees saved during the Mediterranean crossing.
The two parties forged an alliance on the base of a platform including a crackdown on irregular migrants, and a stop in the reception of those trying to reach Europe from northern African coasts.
