Only 60 of those rescued by SOS Méditerranée can apply for political asylum and the rest are split between 11 EU countries
At least 44 of the 234 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by the humanitarian ship ‘Ocean Viking’ will be expelled from French territory to their countries of origin after the government of Paris rejected their asylum applications, as announced by the Interior Minister on Tuesday Gerald Darmanin. At the request of the President of the Republic (Emmanuel Macron) and the Prime Minister (Élisabeth Borne) I have already contacted the administrations of their national territories so that these deportations are carried out as soon as possible, based on their state of health, it is from here up to twenty days,” Darmanin told the National Assembly.
The head of the Home Affairs portfolio explained that “44 of those rescued have been recognized as minors and only 60 can apply for asylum”. The rest of the files are still being examined by the French authorities before a decision is taken. “For people who can apply for asylum, we are going to allow their distribution in European territory,” added Darmanin, who also confirmed that eleven countries have agreed to take care of them: Germany, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg. Malta, Norway, Portugal and Romania. “It is proof that the solution is European,” he added.
The French government allowed the ‘Ocean Viking’ to dock at the military port of Toulon on November 11 after Italy refused to take in migrants rescued in the central Mediterranean by the ship belonging to the NGO SOS Méditerranée. Rome thus violated the Community rule that people who are helped at sea must disembark at the nearest port.
After arriving in Toulon, the rescued underwent a medical examination. They all also had an interview with France’s Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) to decide on their asylum applications and another with the Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI) to try and find out if there are any terrorists , infiltrators.
Macron’s decision to take in the ‘Ocean Viking’ migrants has been criticized by the right and far right. Marine Le Pen yesterday advocated that the ships, once rescued from the sea, disembark at their ports of departure, not on the French coast.
“If you were responsible, would you have let those 44 children die?” Darmanin asked Laure Lavelette, a deputy from the far-right National Regrouping Party, who had criticized in the National Assembly that France was opening its doors to the rescued. “We have shown humanism, while you are doing politics,” the minister criticized.
Rome’s refusal to welcome the ‘Ocean Viking’ migrants sparked tensions with Paris three weeks after Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government came to power in Italy. In response, France has strengthened immigration controls at the border between the two countries. It also suspended the planned 2023 reception on French territory of 3,500 rescued refugees currently in Italy, as stipulated in a previous agreement for the distribution of migrants between community partners.
Source: La Verdad
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