Half of Ocean Viking migrants may be missing in France, politics are stirring

• Frank Renout

  corresponding France

The more than 200 migrants who arrived in France a week ago on the Ocean Viking ship appear to have ended up in a legal and administrative gray area. It is not clear where many migrants are and what their status is. The issue has aroused strong political disagreements.

Migrants from Syria, Bangladesh and Eritrea, among others, arrived in the port city of Toulon exactly one week ago. The Ocean Viking ship had been sailing in the Mediterranean for weeks because Italy did not want to admit migrants. After arriving in France, they were held in a tourist village near Toulon which was guarded by the police.

But the court ruled on appeal that 123 migrants can no longer be forcibly detained. They can go wherever they want. Dozens of others are still awaiting trial. But it will almost certainly turn out the same: there’s little legal reason to keep them long.

“I refused to detain people because they are not criminals,” said court president Renaud Le Breton de Vannoise. If the migrants in question wish to wait for their asylum application in France, they can stay in the holiday village on a voluntary basis.

It has previously emerged that minors who were aboard the Ocean Viking without their parents could not be locked up. It concerns 44 children. They received shelter from French youth assistance, including in hotels.

Of these, 26 have now left for an unknown destination. “We told them it’s illegal. But they went away anyway and said: thank you for the welcome so far,” regional council president Jean-Louis Masson told the press. “We couldn’t stop them.”

In total, more than half of the 234 total migrants may have disappeared from the French authorities’ radars. This complicates the asylum procedure. The French immigration service OFPRA studied the files of 189 adults who were aboard the Ocean Viking. Of these, 123 would not be entitled to asylum.

It is unclear whether they will actually be expelled from the country. Furthermore, it is not known how many of the people who do not receive asylum are still in Toulon. They may (in part) belong to the group of migrants who have regained their freedom of movement.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said earlier this week that at least 44 migrants “will be returned to their country of origin as soon as their health allows”. He did not provide details on who those 44 are and where they are now.

Of the 189 adult migrants who passed the immigration service, 66 were admitted to the asylum procedure. They will be hosted in several European countries, including Germany, Finland and Portugal.

This Kafkaesque situation is leading to considerable debates in French politics. “The government is no longer in control of the situation,” said right-wing radical Marine Le Pen. President Macron stresses that he will introduce a new and tougher law on asylum and migration early next year. “The migratory pressure in Europe has increased significantly in recent years. The existing regulations are no longer equipped for this”, sources from the Elysée report.