French authorities failed the deadline to validate the asylum claims of all 234 migrants on board the Ocean Viking humanitarian ship and had to release more than half of them without any legal status, French media reported on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2022) French authorities failed the deadline to validate the asylum claims of all 234 migrants on board the Ocean Viking humanitarian ship and had to release more than half of them without any legal status, French media reported on Friday.
Last week, Italy refused to allow docking to the Ocean Viking, French NGO SOS Mediterranee's ship, which carried 234 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea. Many refugees had reportedly been at sea for over two weeks. The ship finally docked in the French port of Toulon where refugees were accommodated in a temporary facility.
BFMTV said, citing French migration services, that the authorities failed to study documents of 123 migrants after their disembarkation from the ship in Toulon within four days, as required by law, and decided to release them without legalizing their status.
According to the broadcaster, French migration services were not able to review all documents on time, as they did not have enough employees and interpreters to do that in four days.
A diplomatic scandal between Paris and Rome erupted over the situation around the ship, which had to go to France after Italy refused to dock it.
France criticized Italy's refusal as "selfish" and "unacceptable." French government spokesman Olivier Veran noted that Italy must fulfill its European obligations to receive migrants, since the ship was in Italian territorial waters. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said that Italy would face consequences if it continued to refuse to accept migrants rescued at sea.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in turn, said that it was unfair that most of migrants that travel via the Mediterranean Sea come to Italian ports. Meloni also stated that she was surprised by France's reaction to the situation with the Ocean Viking.
