France received a ship with asylum seekers for the first time. The 230 migrants were rescued by NGOs in the Mediterranean about three months ago. Italy’s rightwing government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, would not allow the ship, which had requested permission about 20 days ago, to dock.
With that, President Emmanuel Macron’s government agreed on Thursday 10th to preserve the boat, saying it was an “extraordinary” decision. France also vowed to take revenge on Italy for not respecting international law on harboring the ship.
During the campaign, Giorgia repeatedly spoke of the need to review immigration laws and treaties, given that Italy was ultimately obliged to accept all immigrants in North Africa arriving via the Mediterranean, as it is the closest port.
This episode 20 days after Giorgia took over as Italian Prime Minister, should prompt the European Union to put the discussion on immigration on the agenda. For the French government it was “irresponsible and inhumane” not to help the boat.
According to the international press, the ship Ocean Viking, operated by the European NGO SOS Méditerranée, collected the migrants at sea near the coast of Libya before spending weeks looking for a port to take them in.
After receiving the 230 passengers, the French government said immigrants eligible for asylum could then be transferred to other European countries. Anyone who France believes does not meet the asylum criteria will be sent back to their country of origin, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
France had never allowed a rescue ship carrying migrants to land on its coast. According to Darmanin, asylum seekers are Italy’s responsibility under European Union (EU) regulations and accepting the boat is an exceptional measure taken for human reasons.
According to the minister, Macron has been trying for days to convince the Italian authorities to accept international law that a boat in distress can call at the nearest port. Darmanin went on to say that Italy’s refusal was incomprehensible and that there would be “serious consequences” for Italy’s bilateral relations with France and the EU as a whole.
France has already decided to freeze a plan to take in 3,500 asylum seekers currently in Italy, a task created under a European burdensharing deal with immigrants.
At a news conference on Friday, Giorgia said she was “impressed by the French government’s aggressive response, which I find incomprehensible and unjustified”. According to her, Italy cannot be accused of a lack of solidarity because 90,000 immigrants arrived in Italy in 2022, and she again defended changes to the rules. “Should Italy be the only possible port for disembarking migrants from the Mediterranean? I don’t think it’s fair to accuse us of not being responsible.”
Among the Italian Prime Minister’s proposals are the creation of contact points in Africa to receive asylum seekers until their situation is analyzed and the refugees are distributed among the European Union’s allies.