France has rejected asylum applications from 44 of the 234 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by the emergency vessel Ocean Viking. They will be returned to their country of origin, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Tuesday. The fate of others is still to be decided.
The ship was allowed to land at the French port of Toulon last Friday after Italy refused access to its ports, sparking a diplomatic row over how to handle the thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa each year.
