Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi on Thursday denounced as “totally incomprehensible” the French decision to retaliate against Rome, which had refused to dock a ship loaded with migrants, forcing France to welcome it. “France’s reaction to the request to welcome 234 migrants, when Italy only welcomed 90,000 this year, is totally incomprehensible”, reacted the minister in a press release.
A third of passengers relocated to France
The Ocean Viking ship with 230 migrants on board will be welcomed by France on Friday at the port of Toulon, in the south of the country, confirming information from Europe 1, and “a third” of the migrant passengers will be “relocated” to France, Paris announced. who criticized Italy’s “incomprehensible choice” not to accept the humanitarian ship. “It is exceptionally that we welcome this boat, given the fifteen days of waiting at sea that the Italian authorities have subjected the passengers to,” French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Thursday.
In protest, France has decided to suspend “with immediate effect” the reception planned for this summer of 3,500 refugees currently in Italy. France “will also draw the consequences” of the Italian attitude on the other aspects of its “bilateral relationship”, said the French minister. “What we don’t understand is why Italy should willingly accept what others are unwilling to accept,” Matteo Piantedosi retorted in his statement.
Italy, “the only possible European arrival for immigrants”
“This year, almost 90,000 people have landed in Italy. 13 European countries have pledged to take back a total of 8,000 people, less than a tenth. So far, a total of 117 people have been taken care of (0.13 % of arrivals), including 38 by France (0.04%), said the Italian minister.
He denounced the desire “to impose the principle that Italy is the only possible European arrival for illegal immigrants” and the fact that despite the affirmations of European solidarity, the peninsula “has so far faced alone this issue”. “Countries of arrival cannot bear sole responsibility for managing flows” of migrants, concluded Matteo Piantedosi.