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TEHRAN, June 15 - Migrants who live through the trauma of camps in Libya, make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Italy and try to push north get a double-whammy at the French-Italian border, where many languish in a no man's land without adequate food, water, shelter or basic rights, a leading rights group said Friday.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The report by Oxfam examines the plight of migrants at the border where the French and Italian Rivieras meet, a popular vacation destination for Europeans. For migrants, however, the Italian town of Ventimiglia is a place to escape from, only to face rough, often illegal, treatment by French police nearby.
The report comes amid a clash over migration between Italy and France and as French President Emmanuel Macron meets Friday with the prime minister of Italy's new populist government, Giuseppe Conte.
The feud was triggered by Macron's tough assessment of Italy's decision to shut its ports to a rescue vessel loaded with 629 migrants — the French leader pointed at the Italian government's "cynicism" and "irresponsible" behavior.
The Aquarius ship and two other boats are now heading to Spain after being stranded for days off the coast of Italy.
Italy shot back, however, with Conte's office saying "Italy cannot accept hypocritical lessons from countries that on the topic of immigration have always preferred to turn their heads."
Nearly 39,900 migrants were refused entry to France at the Italian border from January to August 2017, according to official data.
The Oxfam report says there were some 200 migrants in Ventimiglia in 2015, quoting an NGO director, Maurizio Marmo. The population then skyrocketed when France imposed border controls in 2015.
Today, there are an estimated 16,500 refugees and migrants in the town — one in four unaccompanied children. Volunteers counted 4,000 new arrivals in the first four months of 2018.
They live under a bridge near the border or in an official, overcrowded center where police stand guard and fingerprints are taken — removing their option to seek asylum outside of Italy.
Many migrants in Ventimiglia have been "pushed" out of Italy's asylum system, which has failed to meet migrants' basic needs, the report says. In a grim cycle, French border police in nearby Menton "push back" again, returning them to Italy, on foot or by train.
The report cites numerous examples of inhuman or illegal treatment by French police.
Source: AP
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