PARIS (Reuters) – The Ocean Viking NGO ship carrying over rescued 200 migrants at the southern French port of Toulon after being rejected by Italy, BFM TV reported.
The French government agreed on Thursday to take the boat in but only after criticising Italy and saying it would suspend plans to take in 3,000 migrants who had arrived in Italy.
The Ocean Viking, which is operated by the SOS Mediterranee charity, docked at a military port with 230 migrants saved from the Mediterranean Sea in October, including dozens of children.
Immigration is a sensitive issue in both France and Italy, and French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Thursday the right-wing Italian government’s ban on the charity vessel, which had been stuck off Sicily for days, was “reprehensible” and “selfish”.
Italy rejected the criticism, saying the French reaction underscored Europe’s failure to deal with a rising number of migrants, many of whom reach the continent via boats from North Africa.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Angus MacSwan)
