The Prefecture has issued a statement that we reproduce in its entirety for reasons of professionalism.
The tone is bureaucratic but firm and aims to respond to the controversies of recent weeks, particularly the visit of EE-LV parliamentarians to the French-Italian border some time ago and the comments that followed, including the prospect of involving the Public Prosecutor.
This statement is timely: yesterday, the Public Prosecutor of Turin issued a European investigation order against the 5 French customs officers who, a few days ago, pursued migrants by invading association premises at the Bardonecchia train station.
The situation is both complex and delicate, and a good balance between legal respect and appropriate behavior is essential, albeit not at all easy.
Following the allegations from associations and relayed without verification by several media outlets accusing the national police of falsifying migrants’ identity documents at the French-Italian border controls, the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes wishes to categorically refute them.
These allegations are indeed false. The majority of foreign nationals arrested at the Alpes-Maritimes border are without any passport or other identification documents. Therefore, the border police officers rely solely on the migrants’ own statements to fill out the control-related forms, which are sometimes inconsistent on either side of the border. When migrants claim to be minors, vulnerable, and unaccompanied, they are provided with shelter in coordination with the judicial authority and the departmental council.
Once again, the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes expresses his gratitude to the law enforcement forces for their task of combating illegal immigration, carried out in respect of the law and in service of the law.
