The Latest: Aid groups slam France on child migrants
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Photo: Olmo Calvo, AP Image 1 of / 13 Caption Close Image 1 of 13 In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, migrant women look at a crew's computer aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port for the aid boat traveling with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya and rejected by both Italy and Malta. less In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, migrant women look at a crew's computer aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port ... more Photo: Olmo Calvo, AP Image 2 of 13 In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Captain Marco Martinez Esteban shows control of the Open Arms ship to Narcisse Saturnin Gbamago, 30, of the Central African Republic, aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port for the aid boat traveling with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya and rejected by both Italy and Malta. less In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Captain Marco Martinez Esteban shows control of the Open Arms ship to Narcisse Saturnin Gbamago, 30, of the Central African Republic, aboard the Open Arms aid boat, ... more Photo: Olmo Calvo, AP Image 3 of 13 In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Guillermo Cañardo, chief of mission, and Marco Martinez Esteban, captain of the Open Arms boat, watch cartoons on a computer next to Khingsley Dokowada, 9, of Central African Republic, aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port for the aid boat traveling with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya and rejected by both Italy and Malta. less In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Guillermo Cañardo, chief of mission, and Marco Martinez Esteban, captain of the Open Arms boat, watch cartoons on a computer next to Khingsley Dokowada, 9, of ... more Photo: Olmo Calvo, AP Image 4 of 13 In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Guillermo Cañardo, chief of mission, and Marco Martinez Esteban, captain of the Open Arms boat, watch cartoons on a computer next to Khingsley Dokowada, 9, of Central African Republic, aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port for the aid boat traveling with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya and rejected by both Italy and Malta. less In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Guillermo Cañardo, chief of mission, and Marco Martinez Esteban, captain of the Open Arms boat, watch cartoons on a computer next to Khingsley Dokowada, 9, of ... more Photo: Olmo Calvo, AP Image 5 of 13 Image 6 of 13 In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, rescued migrants check their mobile phones aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port for the aid boat traveling with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya and rejected by both Italy and Malta. less In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, rescued migrants check their mobile phones aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking ... more Photo: Olmo Calvo, AP Image 7 of 13 In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, rescued migrants pray aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port for the aid boat traveling with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya and rejected by both Italy and Malta. less In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, rescued migrants pray aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port for the aid boat ... more Photo: Olmo Calvo, AP Image 8 of 13 In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Zatadina, 20, from Eritrea, records with her mobile phone as other rescued people and part of the crew dance aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO, on their way to Europe. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port for the aid boat traveling with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya and rejected by both Italy and Malta. less In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Zatadina, 20, from Eritrea, records with her mobile phone as other rescued people and part of the crew dance aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms ... more Photo: Olmo Calvo, AP Image 9 of 13 In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Khingsley Dokowada, 9, of the Central African Republic, explores the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port for the aid boat traveling with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya and rejected by both Italy and Malta. less In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Khingsley Dokowada, 9, of the Central African Republic, explores the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will ... more Photo: Olmo Calvo, AP Image 10 of 13 Image 11 of 13 In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Noumissi Messi, 22, from Cameroon, looks ahead at sea, aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port for the aid boat traveling with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya and rejected by both Italy and Malta. less In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Noumissi Messi, 22, from Cameroon, looks ahead at sea, aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be ... more Photo: Olmo Calvo, AP Image 12 of 13 In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Noumissi Messi, 22, from Cameroon, looks ahead at sea, aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be the docking port for the aid boat traveling with 60 migrants rescued on Saturday in waters near Libya and rejected by both Italy and Malta. less In this photo taken on Monday, July 2, 2018, Noumissi Messi, 22, from Cameroon, looks ahead at sea, aboard the Open Arms aid boat, of Proactiva Open Arms Spanish NGO. Spain's government said Barcelona will be ... more Photo: Olmo Calvo, AP Image 13 of 13 The Latest: Aid groups slam France on child migrants 1 / 13 Back to Gallery
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The Latest on migration into Europe (all times local):
1 p.m.
Aid groups say France's system for handling the unprecedented number of unaccompanied migrant children is arbitrary and hurts those who need help the most.
In a report Wednesday, Human Rights Watch described a confusing system that is stacked against minors. The aid group Medecins Sans Frontiers echoed the finding, saying France's default is to assume someone claiming to be under 18 is lying.
Around 25,000 young people claiming to be unaccompanied migrant children arrived in France last year. Of those, the claims of around 14,000 were accepted, the groups say.
But they say reasons for rejection were contradictory — children were denied for being too articulate, or not articulate enough. Those whose claims are accepted receive housing and education; those rejected can be expelled or jailed.
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11:55 a.m.
The Portuguese picked as the next leader of the U.N.'s migration agency predicts that the number of migrants heading from North Africa to Europe will grow and that European countries will increasingly refuse to let them in.
Antonio Vitorino says "I have no illusions. I know that in coming years the flow of migrants will increase and (destination) countries will close in on themselves."
Vitorino told Portuguese television channel SIC that cooperation between the migrants' countries of origin and European Union countries "is the only response" that will solve the issue of migration to Europe.
He says refugees seeking asylum must be guaranteed protection. He says the admittance of economic migrants depends on whether European labor markets can absorb them.
Vitorino was selected last week as the next director-general of the International Organization for Migration and takes office Oct. 1.
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10:45 a.m.
A rescue ship carrying 60 migrants has arrived in a Spanish port after being refused entry by Italy and Malta, the second time in a month that a humanitarian group has been forced to travel for days to unload people rescued in the central Mediterranean.
The Open Arms ship docked Wednesday in the northeastern port of Barcelona, where the group — including 5 women, a 9-year-old toddler and four teenagers — will be going through health checks and identification procedures.
The Spanish aid group Proactiva Open Arms said the migrants come from 14 countries and are in good health.
Doctors Without Borders says more than 500 people have died in the Mediterranean since the Aquarius, another rescue ship, was blocked from ports in Italy and Malta in June.