France denies many of the asylum claims to migrants rescued by the Ocean Viking

First modification: 11/19/2022 – 02:00

More than a hundred asylum applications were denied by France to migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by the Ocean Viking ship. The French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons decided that of the almost 200 applications received, only 66 were approved.

The entity released the information before the French Council of State, in the voice of its legal deputy director. It is not yet known if the people who were not given approval will be notified of the next step, which could be leaving the French territory through deportation.

Of the approved asylum claims, the majority of migrants who received them will be distributed to other nations of the European Union. The rescued migrants are in a detention center for migrants in Toulon, in the south of the country.

Minors flee reception centers

This Thursday, it was learned that more than half of the children who came on the Ocean Viking and who were in the custody of the French authorities, fled the hotel where they were. According to the prefecture of Var, the department where the migrants were welcomed, at least 26 infants escaped from the hotel where they were staying.

Most of the minors on the run were of Eritrean nationality.

The situation of infants was different from that of adults. They were free to go where they wanted, while the adults have been held in a social center and are not allowed to leave.

The rescued children will be taken to Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, where their relatives presumably reside.

Italy assures that the Ocean Viking headed for France autonomously

The Italian Interior Minister, Mateo Piantedosi, affirmed that the Ocean Viking made the decision autonomously – after Rome denied the landing of the migrants on its shores for several days – to head for the French coasts.

According to Piantedosi, “Italy never targeted such a decision, which created international tensions (…) and could have repercussions on migration policies at the European level.”

The NGO that manages the ship, SOS Mediterranee, responded to the claims. The group argued that, “Having had to sail for about two days before reaching a port of landing is a terrible blow dealt by the member states of the European Union and states associated with maritime and humanitarian law.”

The head of the Italian Interior portfolio also stressed by way of complaint that “Italy has always emphasized the need for immigrant arrivals not only to affect countries on Europe’s external border.”

Disagreement between Paris and Rome

After repeatedly requesting the need for a port to disembark more than 200 migrants rescued in the waters of the Mediterranean, the Ocean Viking ship headed for the French coast with the permission of Paris, given the Italian refusal to receive them.

France, among other measures, immediately accused Rome of violating international laws on the safeguarding of migrants and accused it of breaking ties of trust.

The French Minister for European Affairs, Laurence Boone, accused the far-right government of the Italian Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni, of infringing European standards for the reception and distribution of migrants. Paris also announced that it would pause the European migrant relocation agreement, a measure that will suspend the transfer of 3,500 migrants from Italian to French territory.

Meloni reacted to his neighbor’s position and described it as “incomprehensible and unjustified”, while pointing to defend more the borders of the European bloc and assured that his country has received some 90,000 migrants this year.

Rome has for years urged the other countries of the community bloc to agree to distribute migrants who arrive on its shores through the Mediterranean in their territories. However, it is a controversial issue that has not had the support expected by Italy.

With EFE and Reuters