They come loitering along the road back into Italy. People who tried to enter France from Italy. Stopped and sent back to Ventimiglia, the Italian border town that has become a kind of collection point for all those migrants who want to go on to France, or even further, to Great Britain or Northern Europe.
Fierce exchange of words
The situation with enhanced French border controls has been ongoing since 2015, but has heated up in recent weeks since the new Italian government refused the Norwegian-registered aid vessel Ocean Viking to dock and offload rescuers at sea. France received the ship but responded with passport controls against Italy and for a couple of days French police searched the tailgates of every car that crossed the border. With long queues and traffic chaos as a result.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the French government’s reaction “aggressive” and “unfair”. French Interior Minister Darmanin called the Italian government “irresponsible”.
Now the traffic at the border flows decently again, but the basic problem remains: Italy does not want to alone bear the responsibility for all the people who come across the Mediterranean. France points out that Italy violates international law and also thinks that Italy is not doing its job by simply letting the migrants into France – hence the strengthened border controls.
Crisis plan from the EU Commission
At the meeting in Brussels on Friday, EU Commissioner Ylva Johansson will present a crisis plan for migration to try to resolve the acute conflict. The content consists of 20 points where Johansson believes that quick measures are possible.
– The situation right now is not sustainable, she said at a short press conference on Monday.
This involves, among other things, that the border agency Frontex must quickly investigate the situation in the Mediterranean to see where extra support is needed. Another point is to quickly start targeted return efforts for people who do not have the right to stay in the EU.
– We must take into account that the overwhelming majority of people who now come across the central Mediterranean are not in need of international protection, Johansson said.