Diplomatic tensions have deteriorated between Italy and France since Gérald Darmanin’s criticism of the Italian government’s migration policy. Report in the Ventimiglia station district, on the Italian side, where migrants are trying to cross into France.
The city crystallizes the tensions between Paris and Rome. Located on the border between the two countries, Ventimiglia is a crossing point for migrants seeking to reach France. These attempts are often made by train. On the forecourt of the station of the Italian city, in the middle of travelers and tourists in a hurry, many migrants live in destitution and wait before taking action. “It’s complicated! I tried four times, it didn’t worksays Philippe, a 22-year-old Cameroonian. When you have crossed French soil, the police are already there!”
“My fourth attempt was yesterday. I got caught and I cried, it’s too hard.”
Philippe, 22 years old, Cameroonianat franceinfo
Diplomatic tensions have deteriorated since Gérald Darmanin sparked a controversy on Thursday April 4. The interior minister has accused far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of being “unable to resolve migration issues” from his country.
Philippe, who dreams of joining his cousin in Toulouse, will soon try his luck again, but not right away: “It’s dead, I’m not even trying…” The young man and his traveling companions are aware that reinforcements have arrived on the French side of the border: two squadrons of the mobile gendarmerie and two companies of CRS have been deployed in Menton since Wednesday May 3. The Alpes-Maritimes prefecture has even authorized, by decree, the use of a drone to monitor the border area.
More and more migrants?
An arrival of reinforcements which is justified by the increase in the migratory flow. According to the French authorities, 9,737 migrants have been arrested in the border area since the beginning of 2023, an increase of 33%. The pressure at the border would therefore be more and more strong? “Not so sure”, answers Mireille Damiano, a lawyer from Nice, who notably defends the rights of young unaccompanied minors. According to her, these figures do not prove anything. “Checks are systematically carried out in all the train carriages on the Italy-France line, where we are desperately looking for who is inside and who is trying to pass. And he will pass once, twice, three times, four times and he is accounted for like this.”
“The figures thrown at us are figures which, moreover, have no kind of reality.”
Mireille Damiano, lawyer from Niceat franceinfo
Moreover, the associations do not see any massive arrivals on the ground. For example, the demand for humanitarian aid is stable on the French side, explains Loïc Le Dall, president of Emmaüs in the Roya valley: “We see it in particular on the food distributions. In the summer, indeed, we have 300 people to feed in Ventimiglia and there, we are in an average of 100-150 meals distributed. Which is not huge either compared to as you can see.”
Same observation on the Italian side with the teams of Doctors Without Borders. “Compared to Ventimiglia, we do not find this increase in peopleexplains Cecilia Moni, who works in a mobile medical truck. It is a flow which can increase from time to time or which can decrease, but more or less constant. In the last three months, we have made more than 200 medical visits.” A stable figure, again, far from the migratory explosion denounced by certain political leaders.