The French port of Toulon has welcomed hundreds of people watching the landing of the ‘Ocean Viking’ with more than 200 migrants
After a very eventful journey that sparked a political crisis between France and Italy, with Brussels at the center, the humanitarian vessel ‘Ocean Viking’ finally made landfall this Friday after traveling nearly 3,000 kilometers over three weeks across the Mediterranean. Tired, some injured and hoping to reach a better place than they left behind, the more than 200 migrants rescued by the NGO SOS Mediterranée have already abandoned ship and received medical attention.
Their arrival was a ‘little event in Toulon’, says Michel, a local in his 60s, who had stocked up on binoculars to better observe the scene from a distance. “I sympathize because we cannot let people die in the sea,” he told Liberation newspaper. Despite the desire to help others, he analyzes the situation and asks himself: «It is very beautiful, but what are we going to do with these immigrants after that?». Beside him, Matthias, 45, doesn’t take his eyes off the boat. He is ‘enthusiastic’, he says.
Not everyone approached the place with optimism. Alain, an ordinary 69-year-old fisherman, had gone to the edge of the harbor as usual this morning to fish with his retired friends, but this time the television cameras have occupied his territory. A fact that somewhat disturbs them, although not as much as the arrival of ‘all those foreigners’. For him, “such ships only help to create racism. That is a pity,” he says emphatically. The French pensioner fears that his country will become a “normal” destination for other humanitarian ships. “It is not humanity, it is a political issue,” he emphasizes.
A big bet was made this Friday for the arrival of the ‘Ocean Viking’. “Government agencies have mobilized a total of 600 people to receive passengers,” said Evence Richard, the prefect of Var, a staff that combines police, customs, firefighters and other administrative agents. Before disembarking, a helicopter approached the rescue ship to transfer those in a worse situation. Once docked in a Gallic port, the migrants were taken to a military area in the area and later onto buses to perform health and safety tests, Liberation said.
Since they do not have permission to enter the national territory, they are “forced” to stay in the waiting area under the supervision of the border police services, installed in a claimed holiday center on the peninsula of the island of Giens, in the town of Hyères, explained Eric Jalon, Director General of Foreigners. They will remain there for twenty days while their situation is studied. Relocations will take place during this period. A third of the asylum seekers remain in France and the rest (about 175 people) go to 11 host countries such as Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Portugal or Ireland, among others. Unaccompanied minors present on the ship are entrusted with the protection of minors.
Source: La Verdad
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