Reinforcements from the police have made it possible to arrest nearly 3,000 migrants for two weeks in Menton, in the Alpes-Maritimes, before the possible influx of migrants disembarked en masse in Lampedusa, announced this Friday Emmanuelle Joubert, director departmental border police.
This total brings to 32,000 the number of arrests since the start of the year along the border in this department, a figure up 20% compared to last year over the same period while arrivals in Italy have more than doubled.
The number of unaccompanied minors jumped by 50%
Among the migrants arrested, 24,000 were subject to a non-admission procedure and were handed over to the Italian authorities, i.e. 10% more than in 2022. But many were counted several times after repeated attempts.
The others were unaccompanied minors, who cannot be returned and whose number jumped by 50% to reach 5,000 arrivals, and adults intercepted beyond the 20 km band allowing readmissions to Italy.
The procedures were put in place in 2015 with the reestablishment of border controls following the attacks: all trains passing through Menton are checked, police officers filter border posts and patrol the mountains of the hinterland. Only controls on the highway remain much more random. Since June 1, a border force has been deployed, with reinforcements of personnel, support from soldiers from Operation Sentinel and drones with thermal cameras.
France criticized for its systematic pushbacks
In a judgment handed down on Thursday, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that France could not carry out systematic pushbacks in this way. “We have been informed. The State is carrying out an analysis, we will have the instructions later,” explained Emmanuelle Joubert.
In the meantime, controls have intensified after the arrival of more than 12,000 migrants in a few days last week on the Italian coasts, most of them on the small island of Lampedusa. But “there is often a delay of several weeks between their arrival in Italy and crossing the border,” she said.
Thus, the people arrested on Thursday had arrived at the end of August or the beginning of September in Italy. Only two had landed last week in Lampedusa.