- Title: FRANCE/ITALY: France and Italy at odds over fate of migrants massing on border
- Date: 19th April 2011
- Summary: MIGRANT SHOWING ITALIAN TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD AND TRAVEL DOCUMENTS GIVEN TO HIM BY ITALIAN AUTHORITIES (3 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 4th May 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy, France
- City:
- Country: Italy France
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVAL1KQRKREIQAULK2J18OUZLNG
- Story Text: France and Italy carry out mutual expulsions of migrants as relations between the two countries sour over the fate of hundreds of migrants massing at the border between the two countries.
In what has become a daily occurrence, France and Italy on Monday (April 18) expelled North African migrants to each other's countries as relations between the two countries remained sour over what to do with the refugees massing at the border.
Early on Monday, a French police vehicle unloaded two migrants at the usually sleepy border between Menton and Ventimiglia and ordered them back into Italy, the country where they first entered the European Union. Shortly afterwards, an Italian police car discharged several migrants who were sent back into France.
The exchange took place against a brewing row between the two countries over the thousands of people fleeing unrest and civil war in North Africa, which led to the temporary closure to trains from Italy on Sunday and diplomatic protests to France from Rome.
In Ventimiglia itself, mayor Gaetano Scullino of the town warned that negative publicity about the accumulation of foreigners in his small town was damaging its stock-in-trade of tourism and business and called on European nations to resolve the issue collectively.
"For the last two months, the city of Ventimiglia has been paying too heavy a price. There are a lot of foreigners coming here and we're not in a position to resolve their problems. We're a border town. We have to continue to go on living from tourism and business," he said.
At present, he says there are only a few hundred in Ventimiglia. But he warned they could be the tip of a very large problem.
"There are 520,000 Libyans at the border with Tunisia because of the war. And there are 720,000 on the border with Egypt. Do you think only one European country can resolve these kind of immigration problems? I think it's something that can only be resolved with everybody sitting around a table to see what can be done," he told Reuters Television in an interview.
Italy has complained about being "left alone" by European Union partners to deal with thousands of mainly Tunisian migrants who have arrived on its southern island of Lampedusa in recent weeks.
It has began issuing migrants with temporary permits allowing them to leave Italy to travel to other designations in Europe, a policy which has been criticised by several of its partners including France and Germany.
On Monday, some of those migrants were lining up in Ventimiglia to get the papers that will allow them to stay for up to six months in Italy -- and the precious travel document that will allow them to travel within the Schengen area. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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