Two Swiss in custody for smuggling migrants into France
Around 100 mostly French and Italian activists crossed the Montgenèvre pass at the Italian border with the migrants
Keystone
Two Swiss nationals and four Italians have been arrested and taken into police custody in the French Alps. On Sunday, they helped 30 illegal migrants enter France from Italy.
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The prosecutor’s office of French town of Gap said on Monday that the two Swiss are in police custody for “aiding the entry of foreigners without the right paperwork into the country in an organised operation”.
Those arrested joined around 100 mostly French and Italian activists, who crossed the Montgenèvre pass at the Italian border with the migrants. They reached the ski resort of Montgenèvre, where they were met by the police, and then moved on to the town of Briançon, where a reception centre for migrants run by volunteers is located.
The attempt came after activists from a right-wing group called Génération Identitaire blocked the Col de l’Échelle from Saturday to Sunday morning, six kilometres (3.7 miles) from the border, which they consider to be a “strategic point of passage for illegal immigrants”. The group had created a “symbolic border” with barriers and unfurled a banner on the side of the mountain that said, “No Way”.
Weak border
On Sunday, French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb criticised both “ultra-right” and “ultra-left” groups for their “unacceptable actions”, a few hours before the adoption by French deputies of a controversial bill on immigration.
The minister announced that reinforcements would be sent to enforce border control in this region. As early as Sunday, a mobile police squadron arrived, joined by more police on Monday, totalling a force of 100.
Between July 2017 and February 2018, nearly 3,000 migrants passed through the improvised shelter in the French Alps, including at least 1,185 Guineans (793 of whom declared themselves minors) and 481 Ivorians (209 of whom declared themselves minors).
According to the French authorities, 1,900 illegal immigrants were returned to Italy in 2017 compared with 315 in 2016.
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