France accepts 230 "migrants" on board rescue ship after Italy refused to let them in

A rescue ship carrying more than 230 migrants which was refused entry by Italy have safely disembarked and been welcomed into France.

The Ocean Viking, operated by a French NGO, picked up the migrants near the Libyan coast before beginning a weeks long-search at sea to find a port willing to accept them.

The vessel docked at the southern port of Toulon on Friday after Rome denied it access. It promptly left to undergo maintenance at another port before returning to the sea in a few weeks' time to save more migrants in the Mediterranean.  

French authorities said the last of the passengers disembarked late on Friday, while four others were evacuated by helicopter earlier this week.

Of the passengers, 189 people, including 23 women and 13 minors, are now living in a holiday camp turned shelter on the Giens Peninsula some 12 miles from the military port where they disembarked.

The area, near the Toulon port, has been designated a special 'international waiting zone' which is not part of French territory. Those staying there will not be allowed to leave the area until their asylum request has been processed.

French authorities have said all the arrivals have expressed the wish to seek asylum.  They will now have to undergo security checks before being interviewed by the country's refugee agency OFPRA.

OFPRA representatives were expected to arrive at the area today.  

Another 44 unaccompanied minors, mostly 'young teenagers', have been taken into the care of French social services and are not staying at the Giens shelter, according to local official Evence Richard.

Of all passengers, 175 are set to leave France and head to 11 other countries. Germany is set to receive 80 migrants, while Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal and Romania will also welcome a share.

The vessel initially sought to dock on Italy' coast, which is closest to where the migrants were picked up, stating that health and sanitary conditions onboard were rapidly worsening.

But Italy refused the ship entry, saying that other nations needed to shoulder more of the burden in taking in the thousands of migrants attempting to reach Europe from north Africa every year.

The refusal is part of Giorgia Meloni's new government regime which is allowing only those identified as vulnerable to disembark from four ships docked in the port of Catania.

New Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi is targeting non-governmental organizations, which Italy has long accused of encouraging people trafficking in the central Mediterranean Sea. The groups deny the claim.

The new government is insisting the countries whose flags the charity-run ships fly must take in the migrants.

The confrontational stance taken by Meloni's government is reminiscent of the standoffs orchestrated by Matteo Salvini, now Meloni's infrastructure minister in charge of ports, during his brief 2018-2019 stint as interior minister.

In a Facebook video, Salvini repeated his allegations that the presence of the humanitarian boats encourages smugglers.

Nongovernmental organizations reject that claim, saying they are obligated by the law of the sea to rescue people in distress and that coastal nations are obligated to provide a safe port as soon as feasible.

The UN's International Organization for Migration has said that 1,891 migrants have died or disappeared so far this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean in the hope of a better life in Europe.

It comes as migrants hurled stones at French riot police in anger after officers slashed and deflated dinghies being prepared for English Channel crossings earlier today.  

Public officers from the French CRS - the general reserve of the French National Police - slashed and deflated at least two of the migrants' rubber dinghies before they could launch in the village of Gravelines near Dunkirk, according to GB News.

Frustrated, migrants began to throw stones and tree branches at the officers, who used the riot control agent CS spray.

The clash is a result of a new police presence across the French coast between Dunkirk and Calais, ahead of an expected announcement of a new channel security deal between the UK and France.

The UK has agreed to pay an extra £60million to help authorities bolster the security presence along the French coast. '

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11420687/France-opens-arms-230-migrants-board-rescue-ship.html

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