Now migrants brave the Alps to reach France
MAKING their way through deep snow yesterday, a small group of migrants crosses the Italian Alps in an attempt to reach France amid perilous conditions.
Extremely heavy snowfall has left many migrants particularly ill- equipped for the journey – with some of them wearing thin canvas trainers and jeans in the freezing weather.
Hundreds have attempted the route over the past year, using dangerous paths through the mountains in an effort to evade border security.
rescuers in northern Italy last month warned that the situation had reached emergency levels and called for more security measures near the border.
Easier routes between the two countries have been blocked to undocumented migrants, forcing some to higher altitudes to try to escape detection.
the journeys are made harder by what French forecasters have described as the kind of snowfall which is seen only ‘once in every 30 years’, with up to 6ft in 36 hours in parts of the Alps.
Many migrants making the journey this winter have endured the conditions without weatherproof clothing, having come from far hotter countries.
In Bardonecchia, Italy, three men were seen pausing after battling the treacherous terrain in temperatures as low as -9C (15F).
the group, attempting to cross into France, were a 24-year- old Senegalese man, a 31-year- old from the Democratic republic of Congo, and a 37-year- old from Pakistan. they had managed to cross the border but were too weak to continue and were returned to Italy. Migrants began heading across the mountains last spring as the French authorities tightened up on attempts to cross in the coastal Ventimiglia area. the new route involves a seven-mile trek at altitudes of up to 5,500ft.
rescuers have said they expect to find bodies of African migrants who died crossing the Alps when snows melt in the spring.
they added that up to a dozen now reach France by crossing the mountain range each day. there are two mountain tunnels that can be used on the route but police often lie in wait at the French side to apprehend migrants and return them to Bardonecchia by bus.
In 2017, 171,635 migrants arrived in Europe by boat from the Middle East and Africa, down from 363,504 in 2016 and 1million in 2015.
the International Organisation for Migration estimates 20,000 have died in the Mediterranean sea while trying to reach Italy.