Gérald Darmanin announced at the end of the Council of Ministers, Thursday, November 10, that the port of Toulon will welcome, on Friday, the humanitarian ship ocean viking and 234 migrants who survived during their crossing of the Mediterranean, ” exceptionally “. Among those rescued are 57 children and around 20 sick people, according to the Minister of the Interior. A third of migrant passengers will be “relocated” in France, he added, and those who will not meet the criteria for asylum seekers “will be renewed directly”.
On Wednesday, tension escalated between France and Italy, led by far-right Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, over theocean vikingParis denouncing the refusal “unacceptable” of Rome to let the ship dock. Brussels, for its part, called for the immediate disembarkation of all migrants.
Gérald Darmanin felt that Rome had moved away “of its European solidarity” which, according to him, must prevail in Europe with regard to the reception of migrants. “We regret that Italy did not act with the same speed and the same humanity” than France, added the spokesperson for the executive, Olivier Véran.
Earlier Thursday, the General Secretariat for the Sea, attached to the Ministry of the Interior, announced the medical evacuation of three migrants who were on the boat, which is the subject of a standoff between France and Italy. According to SOS Méditerranée, which charters the ship, theocean viking had requested the evacuation of the three passengers, who are “in a serious state of health and need hospital treatment”according to the NGO.
Currently off Corsica
“One of the patients is unstable and unresponsive to onboard care since October 27. The other two suffered injuries in Libya which, due to the long delay in treatment, now risk having long-term negative consequences”told Agence France-presse a spokesperson for SOS Méditerranée.
The NGO sent its request to the French authorities through the Regional Operational Centers for Surveillance and Rescue (Cross), and this request was ” taken into account “, according to SOS Méditerranée, headquartered in Marseille. Evacuation “will be carried out under the operational direction of the Admiral Maritime Prefect of the Mediterranean”confirmed the General Secretariat for the Sea. The ship is now, according to the Marine Traffic websiteoff Aleria, in Corsica.
Rescue operations began at the end of the morning: an air force helicopter with a medical team on board took off around 11 a.m. from the Solenzara base in Corsica to pick up the patients who “should be evacuated to Bastia hospital”detailed with Agence-France presse (AFP) frigate captain Pierre-Louis Josselin, spokesperson for the maritime prefecture.