A generally positive assessment, but some problems. “Faulty” intervention by the judge of freedoms, “isolated” place, lack of interpreters… The reception in the waiting area of migrants disembarked in Toulon from the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking in November experienced “several malfunctions”, estimated Wednesday the rapporteurs of a parliamentary mission. The reception by France – a first – of these 230 castaways in the Mediterranean after a diplomatic showdown with Italy had sparked a lively controversy.
A total of 190 people had been placed on November 11 in a holiday center transformed into a “temporary waiting area” on the Giens peninsula, in Hyères, while around forty unaccompanied minors had been cared for by child welfare.
“The record in terms of respect for the rights of people placed” in this waiting area “is generally positive”, with migrants “welcomed and accommodated in satisfactory conditions”, declared Renaissance MP Ludovic Mendes before the law commission. of the National Assembly, where he presented the conclusions of a flash mission carried out with the deputy Rassemblement national Julie Lechanteux.
Unsuitability for mass arrivals
However, “several malfunctions were observed,” he continued. The main one concerns the “failing intervention” of the judge of freedoms and detention (JLD), “which is due to the inadequacy of the legal framework in the face of mass arrivals”, estimated Julie Lechanteux.
To decide whether to keep a person in a closed waiting area, the JLD has, in the current state of the law, 24 hours to decide. However, on November 14, justice “received 174 referrals”, a “judicial tsunami”, continued the RN deputy, recalling that 108 people had been released due to the inability to process the files within the time limit. . The rapporteurs therefore recommend extending this period from 24 to 48 hours “in the event of a massive arrival” of people.
Among the other dysfunctions, Ludovic Mendes listed “the choice of an isolated place of accommodation”, “difficulties in accessing interpreters” or even an “insufficiently prepared event” by the authorities.
On this last point, the rapporteurs recommend the preparation of a “ready-to-use plan”, which would provide for a predefined port of disembarkation or even a “location of the waiting area”. That of the Giens peninsula closed on November 24. At the end, reported the parliamentarians, 132 people applied for asylum, 54 left their accommodation without asking for asylum and four were “not admitted to the territory”.