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The French government announced its decision to welcome “on an exceptional basis” the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking, with 230 migrants on board rescued in the Mediterranean. Faced with Rome’s refusal to let the shipping ship dock on its shores, Paris announced sanctions for “its behavior” in the face of requests for humanitarian aid by international organizations and suspended with immediate effect the reception of 3,500 refugees currently on Italian soil.
The Ocean Viking ship, which will be received at the military port of Toulon, in the Var department, is transporting 230 migrants, including 57 children, according to Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior of France.
The minister lamented and criticized the position of the new far-right government of Giorgia Meloni in Italy for “not respecting international commitments and maritime law”, which establishes that people rescued at sea have the right to disembark at the nearest port. near.
The migrants on this boat were rescued off the coast of Libya by the humanitarian organization SOS Méditerranée, for which they would have the right to be admitted to Italy, as established in International Humanitarian Law.
“However, there is no doubt under International Law and the law of the sea that it was up to Italy to immediately designate a safe port to receive this ship,” Darmanin assured during a conference at the Council of Ministers in Paris on November 10. .
During the conference, the French minister said that his country is going to reinforce border controls with its neighbor immediately and will suspend the relocation agreement, which had been established in Europe for the distribution of migrants rescued by humanitarian ships.
The agreement stated that France would take in 3,500 migrants rescued on Italian soil. In addition, the Minister of the Interior asked the other signatories of the agreement, such as Germany, to follow in his footsteps.
The French government announced that it will hold a meeting with the European Commission and Germany in the coming days to “draw the consequences of the Italian attitude (…) France wants the response to be European,” said Olivier Verán, spokesman for the Emmanuel government. Macron.
Three weeks of waiting to dock on the mainland
The Ocean Viking had been on the high seas for three weeks waiting for authorization from France or Italy to be able to dock in one of their ports, while representatives of SOS Mediterranée made a strong appeal due to the difficult humanitarian situation inside the ship.
Crew members had said that food and medicine were becoming scarce and warned of diseases that could begin to incubate, which is why they are expected to disembark this Friday in Toulon.
[STATEMENT] It is with a mixture of relief & anger that we welcome the news that Toulon, France, has finally been assigned as a safe port for the 230 remaining survivors on #OceanVikingshortly after a medical evacuation of 3 patients & 1 relative.https://t.co/6FGa1lF7tQ
— SOS MEDITERRANEE (@SOSMedIntl) November 10, 2022
“Faced with this situation, the French authorities have taken the exceptional decision to compensate for the unacceptable behavior of the Italian Government and invite the ship to join the military port of Toulon.”
Four people in critical health condition were evacuated by helicopter this Thursday. SOS Mediterranée was positive and applauded the decision, after assuring that they were very close to a “catastrophe”.
“It is a great relief, with a lot of anger, because this outcome after three weeks of waiting was highly anticipated, but it is the result of a total fiasco by European states that have totally flouted maritime law,” said the deputy director of the NGO, Fabienne Lassall.
According to the French authorities, after disembarking at the military port and offering medical assistance, it will be determined who can access refugee status.
Those who fail to obtain said status will be expelled from the country immediately, according to the French Interior Minister.
Those who manage to stay will benefit from the European agreement, but without the participation of Italy, that is, a third will stay in France, another third in Germany and the rest will be sent to other countries of the European Union where they are accepted.
The refusals of the new Italian Government before the calls for humanitarian aid
The Italian Executive has been in charge of the country for a little over two weeks and has tried to fulfill one of his campaign promises: to make it difficult for migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by NGOs to arrive in his country, accusing them of promoting the flow of people from Africa.
However, the NGOs involved have managed to disembark hundreds of people who were stranded on the high seas. During the last few days, the Geo Barents boats with 572 migrants and the Humanity 1 with 179 arrived at the Italian port of Catania.
Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Salvini seek to toughen the country’s immigration policies, maintaining silence, increasing the wait and evasions so that the boats do not dock at their ports.
Although the two ships managed to reach Italian ports, the Vice President and Minister of Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini, ordered by decree that only families and people who were considered vulnerable could disembark, after being subjected to medical inspections by government officials.
Those that did not meet the requirements would be returned to international waters and would be waiting for other States to receive them.
With EFE and Reuters
