"If the Alan Kurdi expresses the will to come to Marseille, we reiterate the position according to which we will not let anyone drown in the Mediterranean", declared Wednesday September 23 Benoît Payan, who is currently acting as the mayor of Marseille, Michèle Rubirola, removed for health reasons.
"The boat must be received in the safest port, the closest to allow disembarkation, it is this rule that we will continue to apply with our European partners", recalled for his part Gabriel Attal, the spokesperson. government at the end of the Council of Ministers.
Repeating the official position of France, which in this case would mean that the safest port is not in France, Gabriel Attal added, however, that "since the start of the migration crisis, France has never shied away from its responsibilities concerning the reception of people in distress who may present themselves at the borders of Europe "and that it" will continue to take its part in this reception ".
Specifying to have learned the possible arrival of Alan Kurdi by the press, the first deputy mayor of Marseille insisted on the fact that the city was ready to welcome this ship "unconditionally": "Then the common law will apply for the concrete management of the reception of the castaways on board, "he said.
"The inaction of the Italian and German authorities"
However, the decision on whether or not to open the port of Marseille is not the responsibility of the city, but of the national authorities.
"We are not decision-makers, we will support the decisions that will be taken on land by the departmental prefecture, in agreement with the government," explained the maritime prefecture.
"We spoke at mid-day with the Grand Maritime Port of Marseille and they had not received a stopover request" concerning this ship, said this source.
The maritime prefecture can intervene when a boat crosses territorial waters, located 12 nautical miles from the coast (approximately 22 km).
Benoît Payan reiterates a position that the city of Marseille had already taken at the end of August, "in accordance with its history and its traditions", while another humanitarian ship, the Louise-Michel, chartered by the British street artist Banksy, was sailing in Mediterranean with dozens of migrants on board.
The boat Alan Kurdi of the German NGO Sea-Eye, which took in 133 migrants at sea on Saturday, announced on Wednesday that it was heading for the port of Marseille in France after seeing its attempts to reach the Italian coast fail: "Inaction Italian and German authorities force us to this measure, "assured the leader of the NGO, Gorden Isler, in a statement.
With AFP
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