Italy and France engaged in a war of words Monday as a stand-off over hundreds of Africans offered a graphic illustration of Europe's migration crisis. Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano described images of migrants perched on rocks at the border town of Ventimiglia after being refused entry to France as a "punch in the face for Europe."
His French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve hit back by insisting that France was fully within its rights to send illegal immigrants or asylum seekers back to Italy. That prompted Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to weigh into the escalating row. "Europeans have a duty to address the problem of migrants together," he said. "That is the plan A for us. The muscular approach of certain ministers of foreign countries is going in the opposite direction."
The exchanges set the scene for further clashes when European Union ministers meet Tuesday in Luxembourg for talks on the crisis. Around 250 migrants - most of them English-speaking Africans - have been camped in Ventimiglia for four days, protesting that they should be allowed to enter France on their way to their desired destinations in northern Europe. "We will stay here tomorrow, the day after and even several months if it is necessary," said one of the Africans, 20-year-old Brahim from Darfur in Sudan.
Among a group of around 100 camping at the town train's station was Walid, a Sudanese who fled from Libya with his wife Sara and three young children. As he talked to AFP, three-year-old Basmala played with a toy car given to her by an Italian passer-by while her two older brothers concentrated on a crossword.
Comments
Comments are closed.