Italian police in riot gear forcibly removed a few dozen African migrants on Tuesday who had been camping out for days at Italy’s Mediterranean border with France in hopes of going further north.
Some of the migrants protested, grabbing onto signposts, while others had to be carried off by their legs and arms — a violent scene that Italy used to show the rest of Europe that it needs to do more to deal with the continent’s migrant crisis.
« We are human beings. We are not animals, » said Saddam, a Sudanese migrant who watched the police operation Tuesday at the Ventimiglia border crossing and only gave his first name. « I know we are black and we are come from Africa, but we are still humans. »
Migrants on the rocks jutting out into the sea were left alone, with police apparently unwilling to move into that more treacherous location. The rest were loaded onto a Red Cross bus and taken to the nearby train station (…)
Italy, which has borne the brunt of rescuing migrants at sea and providing initial assistance to them, is demanding that other European countries take in the migrants and let them apply for asylum elsewhere. The country has seen 54,000 migrants land so far this year, according to refugee agencies. But many other EU nations are resisting an EU proposal to help.
AP