[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] France has agreed to accept a refugee rescue ship that has been circling the sea for nearly three weeks due to Italy's refusal to allow it to dock.
On the 8th (local time), the French government decided to open the port of Marseille to the 'Ocean Viking,' one of three refugee rescue ships denied entry by the Italian government, according to Italy's ANSA news agency citing a French Interior Ministry official. The Ocean Viking is a refugee rescue ship chartered by the French maritime relief organization SOS M?diterran?e. SOS M?diterran?e issued a statement saying that the Ocean Viking, which had been staying near the southern Italian island of Sicily, is heading to France.
The Ocean Viking rescued 234 migrants in the central Mediterranean but had been circling the sea for nearly three weeks after Italy and Malta refused to allow it to dock.
A French Interior Ministry official said, "All passengers on the Ocean Viking will disembark without any screening process," adding, "All migrants will be granted the right to apply for asylum." This is interpreted as a veiled criticism of the Italian government, which previously allowed selective disembarkation when permitting some refugee rescue ships to dock.
Since the end of last month, the Italian government had refused entry to four refugee rescue ships operated by international aid organizations but on the 6th temporarily allowed two ships to dock at the port of Catania on the island of Sicily. As a result, 357 migrants aboard the 'Geo Barents,' operated by M?decins Sans Fronti?res (MSF), and 144 aboard the 'Humanity 1,' operated by the German aid organization SOS Humanity, disembarked after a long wait. However, the Italian government refused to allow about 250 adult men remaining on the two ships to disembark, except for women, children, and the injured, citing their relatively good health, and ordered the ships to depart.
Some migrants, unable to endure the harsh conditions onboard, even jumped into the sea. On the 7th afternoon, three migrants aboard the Geo Barents threw themselves into the sea. The three were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard, but two Syrian nationals refused to return to the ship. They spent the night crouched on the pier in the cold sea breeze, and one of them was transferred to a hospital after complaining of a high fever of 39 degrees Celsius.
On the same day, the Italian government allowed all 89 people aboard the 'Little Rise Above,' operated by the German aid organization Mission Lifeline, to disembark without screening. The Italian government explained that this was because the Little Rise Above rescued migrants stranded due to a boat wreck, unlike the other rescue ships. However, considering that this ship had the fewest passengers, there is a persuasive analysis that the Italian government took this measure to minimize migrant inflow while avoiding domestic and international criticism.
The fate of the two refugee rescue ships currently docked at the port of Catania, along with about 250 migrants aboard, remains uncertain.
Giorgia Meloni, Italy's new far-right Prime Minister, had promised a tough stance on illegal immigrants even before taking office. Prime Minister Meloni views refugee rescue ships as "shuttle buses" that stay near the North African Libyan coast and transport African migrants to Italy. She firmly rejects accepting refugee rescue ships, believing that the migrants' dangerous boat journeys are largely motivated by the expectation that the rescue ships will save them.
Matteo Salvini, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, who oversees Italian ports, has also been a leading figure in enforcing tough refugee policies. Salvini is currently on trial for blocking the entry of international aid organization refugee ships during his tenure as Interior Minister.
Italy, along with Greece, is one of the countries in the European Union (EU) that receives the highest number of migrants from Africa and the Middle East. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi revealed that among the 87,000 migrants who crossed the Mediterranean and landed in Italy this year, 14% received assistance from aid organizations.
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