France: The Ocean Viking arrived at the port of Toulon with 234 migrants

The ship Ocean Viking docked today at the military port of Toulon in the south Francewhere the 230 migrants he has rescued in the Mediterraneanoff the coast of Libya, was made known by the port authorities.

The ship, which has been chartered by the French non-governmental organization SOS Méditerranée in collaboration with the Red Cross and has been searching in vain for three weeks for a safe port in Italy, arrived in Toulon at around 08:50 local time (09:50 Greek time).

It’s about her first time that a humanitarian organization ship has docked in France that saves Immigrants in the Mediterranean.

The French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanen, criticized yesterday Thursday the Italian authorities who did not accept the ship and added that Paris decided to welcome it, speaking of a “humanitarian duty”.

The men, women and children aboard the Ocean Viking will be taken to a “waiting zone,” Darmanen said. The rescued, including 57 children, “They will not be able to leave the administrative center where they will be transferred and technically they will not be on French territory,” he explained.

The far-right in France has expressed its outrage at the Paris decision, with Marine Le Pen calling for “relaxation”, while the left and environmentalists hailed “a decision worthy of the principles” of France.

Direct deportations?

From today the Immigrantscoming from various countries, some of which are at war, such as Syria, will be examined by doctors, they will undergo security checks by the Intelligence services and then present themselves to the Office for Refugee Protection (Ofpra), which is responsible for granting refugee status.

In the midst of presenting a bill on immigrationwhich provides for the reform of asylum procedures so that France can deport more migrants, Darmanen’s entourage clarified that “those who do not receive asylum will be immediately removed from the waiting zone to their country of origin.”

It is “imperative that European countries adopt a permanent allocation mechanism” for migrants, Bo once again demanded, as Italy steps up its anti-immigration rhetoric.

“Europe must further increase the pressure on the Italian government in order to force it to respect its commitments» said Delphine Ruigot, director of the organization France terre d’asile.

From June a relocation scheme envisages that around 10 EU member states, including France and Germany, will voluntarily take in 8,000 migrants who arrived in countries of first entry such as Italy. However only 117 have been relocated.

Since the beginning of the year, 1,891 migrants have been lost in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe, including 1,337 in the central Mediterranean, according to the International Organization for Migration.