France insists Italy 'play its part' and allow migrant ship Ocean Viking to dock

Migrants wrapped in blankets and waterproof bags lie on the deck of the Ocean Viking rescue ship, in the Strait of Sicily, in the Mediterranean Sea on 5 November, 2022. © AP - Vincenzo Circosta

France denounced as "unacceptable" Italy's refusal to allow a migrant ship to dock, as the two countries argued over where the ship with 234 people on it should land

The row centres on the Ocean Viking, a ship carrying the refugees, which has sailed from Sicilian waters towards France after unsuccessfully waiting for permission to dock in Italy since late October.

Run by European charity SOS Méditerranée under a Norwegian flag, the ship appealed to France to let it dock and was expected to be close to Corsica on Thursday.

"Facing the silence of Italy and the exceptionality of the situation, the Ocean Viking has now escalated her request for a place of safety in France," SOS Méditerranée explained.

📢COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE : face au silence de l'#Italie, nous exhortons les autorités maritimes françaises à assigner un port pour débarquer les 234 rescapé.e.s de l'#OceanViking.

"La situation à bord a atteint un seuil critique", alerte Sophie Beau, directrice de @SOSMedFrance 👇 pic.twitter.com/8SLoaVItM1

— SOS MEDITERRANEE France (@SOSMedFrance) November 8, 2022

A diplomatic row over its fate was gathering steam on Tuesday after Italy's new right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni thanked France for opening a port to the Ocean Viking - in anticipation of any confirmation, or denial, by France.

On Wednesday French government spokesman Olivier Véran branded Italy's refusal to allow the ship to dock as "unacceptable".

He added: "The ship is currently in Italian territorial waters, there are extremely clear European rules that were accepted by the Italians."

Italy's new far-right government, led by Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, has vowed to stop the tens of thousands of migrants who arrive on the country's shores each year.

500 migrants rescued last month

Nearly 500 migrants have been in limbo after being rescued by three different charity ships last month during their perilous crossing from North Africa to Italy's shores.

But on Tuesday night, the Geo Barents and the Humanity 1 finally disembarked the nearly 250 migrants they were carrying after Italian health authorities gave them the green light at Sicily's eastern port of Catania.

Both the Geo Barents and Humanity 1, run by non-governmental group SOS Humanity (former SOS Mediterranée Germany), docked at the weekend in Catania, disembarking about 500 of the most vulnerable migrants.

But Italian authorities denied entry to a third ship, the Ocean Viking, with 234 migrants on board, after appealing to Italy unsuccessfully since 27 October to dock.

Rights groups have described an Italian decree that permitted the Geo Barents and Humanity 1 to dock only for the time it took to help emergency migrant cases as illegal.

SOS Mediterranee said the choice of which migrants to allow onto Italian soil was "selective and discriminatory".

Charity groups said migrants who have been waiting on the ships were suffering from acute psychological stress.

(with AFP)