French police accused of falsifying migrant children’s birth dates
)RA1C( - Seven Italian charities have accused )rench border police of falsifying the birth dates of migrant children travelling alone in an attempt to pass them off as adults and send them back to Italy.
In an appeal to the (uropean commission and Italy’s interior ministry, the charities highlighted evidence of two cases in which birth dates appeared to have been modified on “refusal of entry´ documents. 2ne of the alleged incidents happened in 0arch when charity staff were monitoring the situation around the Italian border town of 9entimiglia. 0ost migrants attempting the journey north into )rance by train pass through 9entimiglia, only to be sent back by officers patrolling 0enton *aravan, the first stop along the southern )rench coastal route. “:e were only there by chance but saw two minors, who we knew well, being stopped by )rench police,´ said Daniela =iterosa, a legal assistant at the charity Intersos. “:e saw the police write the incorrect date of birth on the µrefusal of entry’ document. 2ne of the children took a photo of the document and you can see his date of birth has been changed from the one he declared. “:e managed to block them from being sent back and eventually the )rench took them in.´ The accusations threaten to worsen already fraught relations between Italy and )rance over the border, less than two weeks after )rench agents showed up at an Italian train station and forced a 1igerian migrant suspected of carrying drugs to take a urine test. The boy who took the photo of the document was born in (ritrea on 1 2ctober 2001, but the date on the form was modified to 1 January 2000. He arrived in Italy in June last year and was attempting to reach Sweden, where his brother lives. (8 law stipulates that unaccompanied minors must be protected and that those seeking asylum in one member state have the right to be transferred to another where they have family members. In that respect, the charities also take aim at Italy for failing to implement adeTuate procedures for family reunification, leaving many children stranded and with no choice but to attempt the journey themselves. (The Guardian)