After three weeks of wandering in vain in search of a safe port in Italy, the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking docked this Friday morning at the military port of Toulon, in the south of France. 230 migrants he rescued in the Mediterranean off Libya must disembark, we learned from the maritime prefecture. This is the first landing in France of an ambulance ship rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean.
Criticizing the refusal of the Italian authorities to grant it a safe port, France agreed to welcome the ship chartered by the NGO SOS Méditerranée and operated in partnership with the International Federation of the Red Cross under “a duty to humanity,” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Thursday. A French doctor boarded on board before the ship docked, said Méryl Sotty, spokesperson for SOS Méditerranée.
“The disembarkation will start first with people with particular vulnerabilities established by the French doctor, then women, children and families,” she added. These people will immediately be placed in an “international waiting area.”