Status: 11/18/2022 5:34 p.m
A week after the rescue ship “Ocean Viking” arrived, France officially refused entry to more than half of the refugees. 26 minors traveled on on their own.
After the tug-of-war over the sea rescue ship “Ocean Viking”, which was ultimately accepted by France, with 234 refugees on board, Paris turned away 123 of them. After completing the screening of all the refugees who arrived a week ago, it became apparent that the 123 were not entitled to an asylum procedure, said Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. A few days ago he had already stated that the repatriation of rejected migrants should be organized with the countries of origin as quickly as possible.
After the Italian refusal to accept the sea rescue ship, the “Ocean Viking” was able to dock in Toulon in southern France a week ago, with France showing anger at Italy. Italy should have disregarded international law and should have taken care of the ship.
France reproaches Italy
The government in Paris again accused the neighboring country of not having opened a port for the ship. “A bad gesture,” it said. The migrants are currently staying in a holiday village on the southern French peninsula of Giens, which they are not allowed to leave. The asylum authority checks there whether an asylum application could have a chance of success.
Aid organizations criticize that there are not enough translators, lawyers and psychologists. The French government had declared the holiday village an international waiting zone, which means that it is not officially part of French territory.
26 underage refugees travel on
France, Germany and nine other countries have agreed to take in the refugees with the prospect of asylum. The news that 26 of the 44 underage refugees from the “Ocean Viking” had fled their temporary quarters caused a stir in France on Thursday.
It was foreseeable that many of them would continue to travel, said Christophe Paquette, the solidarity officer for the Var department. Most of the young people came from Eritrea and wanted to go to relatives or friends, including to Germany and the Netherlands. “They behaved in an exemplary manner and thanked them when they left,” he added.
Right criticize France’s migration policy
Unlike the reception center for adult migrants, the accommodation for minors is not locked. “Housing is part of protecting children, it cannot mean confining them,” Toulon prosecutor Samuel Finielz said.
Right-wing populist politicians used the incident to criticize the government’s migration policy. “Our government has been paraded by the abduction of the 26 ‘minors’ of the Ocean Viking,” wrote Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-wing Rassemblement National, on Twitter. “The French see once again that everything is out of control.” Conservative and right-wing politicians have already criticized the government’s decision to take the ship on for humanitarian reasons.