'Inhumane treatment' of migrants at Italy-France border — charity

ROME  — Migrants are being systematically turned away by France at the border with Italy with "acts of violence, degrading and inhumane treatment", the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity said Friday.

People spoken to by an MSF team between February and June in the Italian city of Ventimiglia on the border, reported recurrent procedural violations by French officials, and indifference from Italian ones.

"The systematic pushback of individuals at the French-Italian border is often accompanied by acts of violence, degrading or inhumane treatment as well as arbitrary detention," MSF said in its report.

The situation was also dire on the Italian side of the border, it said.

"Access to essential services is extremely limited for those returned at the French border and those transiting through Ventimiglia," MSF said, due to the closure by Italy of the only emergency reception centre in the area.

Migrants are "forced to sleep on the streets, in abandoned buildings or under (the) bridge, thus exposed to danger, health and weather hazards and without access to sanitary facilities, clean water or adequate shelter", it said.

MSF said the majority of the migrants were "in situations of extreme vulnerability", and many had undergone "very traumatic" journeys from Africa to Europe.

Most of the people the team treated came from Cameroon, Guinea and the Ivory Coast, and the top three medical issues were dermatological, muscoloskeletal and neurological disorders.

Nearly 92,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year, more than double compared to the same period in 2022, according to the Italian interior ministry.

A large number only intend to transit through Italy for France or countries in northern Europe.