Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

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WORLD NEWS Monday 7 May 2018

Serbian police seal Spain rescues 476 migrants

off village to prevent crossing Mediterranean Sea

far-right rally grants, from Bangladesh,

Egypt, Libya, Nigeria and
The Radicals briefly gath- other countries, drifting at
ered by the police cordons sea in a motor-less boat.
before dispersing. The migrants told an As-
A squabble was reported sociated Press photogra-
with some liberal protesters pher onboard who docu-
who came to denounce mented the rescue that
Seselj. Police later said they human smugglers sailing in
Serbian police officers block detained a 40-year-old a separate boat removed
a road to stop Serbian Radi- man suspected of punch- their boat's engine halfway
cal Party leader Vojislav Se- ing a Liberal Democratic through the dangerous
selj and his supporters from Party member. Mediterranean crossing
reaching the northern village and left.Favorable weather
of Hrtkovci, in Jarak, Serbia, The U.N. war crimes court appears to have sparked
Sunday, May 6, 2018. for the former Yugoslavia
Associated Press last month sentenced Se- the surge in sea crossings.
selj to ten years in prison Each year, tens of thou-
JARAK, Serbia (AP) — Ser- over his 1992 speech in Hrt- sands of migrants attempt
bian police on Sunday pre- kovci that resulted in the Refugees and migrants wait to be rescued by members of the to reach Spain and other
vented a Serbian far-right deportations of dozens of Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, after leaving Libya trying to southern European coun-
leader convicted of war ethnic Croats from the vil- reach European soil aboard an overcrowded rubber boat, north tries by crossing the Medi-
crimes from returning to an lage. of Libyan coast, Sunday, May 6, 2018. terranean in smugglers'
ethnically-mixed northern Seselj, a lawmaker in the Associated Press boats. Most of the vessels
village where he spurred Serbian parliament, re- are unfit for open water,
ethnic hatred during the mains free because he MADRID (AP) — Spain's said. There were no report- and thousands of migrants
1990s' Balkan war. served his sentence while maritime rescue service ed casualties. drown each year.
Dozens of policemen in custody during the trial. said Sunday that it saved Separately, a Spanish non- The U.N. says 615 migrants
sealed off Hrtkovci, 40 kilo- The Liberal Youth Initiative 476 migrants who were at- profit dedicated to helping have died crossing the
meters (24 miles) northwest for Human Rights group tempting the perilous cross- migrants at sea rescued Mediterranean so far this
of Belgrade, blocking Ser- demanded Sunday that ing of the Mediterranean 105 more migrants in wa- year. A total of 22,439 mi-
bian Radical Party leader authorities strip Seselj of Sea from African shores. ters near Libya during a grants have reached Euro-
Vojislav Seselj and his sup- his parliamentary seat be- The migrants were pulled mission on Sunday. pean shores, with 4,409 ar-
porters from reaching the cause of the war crimes from 15 small boats on Fri- The aid group Proactiva riving in Spain, through the
village and rallying there. conviction. q day and Saturday, officials Open Arms found the mi- first four months of 2018.q