A group of migrants disembarked in Sicily earlier in January, prompting the Italian government to launch an investigation into the organisation Sea Watch, which owns the ship.
According to Sky TG24, Paris refused to take in part of 47 migrants on board the ship of the German NGO Sea Watch. The broadcaster reported, citing sources in the Italian interior Ministry that France stated it would “only take people who need protection, not economic migrants”.
At the same time, Rome reportedly expects “Paris to show goodwill” by helping to “repatriate undocumented Senegalese who are on Italian territory as soon as possible”.
France and Italy engaged in a quarrel earlier, in January, after Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio accused Paris of being responsible for the migrant crisis. According to the Italian politician, France “never stopped colonising Africa” and was impoverishing African countries and causing people there to flee for Europe.