Illegal immigrants: French police shoot to drive us back to Italy, a girl in shock
On March 27, several illegal immigrants accused the French gendarmerie of driving them back to Italy, and police even opened fire and threatened them. In the meantime, the 11-year-old Afghan girl was hospitalized in shock, and the Italian prosecutor's office in Turin is conducting an investigation into the matter, which the French gendarmes have denied.
On March 27, several illegal Afghan immigrants denounced the French gendarmerie for using guns to threaten and intimidate them and drive them back to Italy, according to the Huffington Post. The Italian side has launched an investigation into the matter, which the French gendarmerie denies.
In the incident, an 11-year-old Afghan girl went into shock and was hospitalized, according to the Italian news agency ANSA. Subsequently, the prosecutor's office for the protection of minors in Turin, Italy, intervened in the investigation. The girl's mother told investigators that last Thursday, she and her husband and daughter left their illegal temporary residence in Oulx, Turin, which borders the French Hautes-Alpes department.
We were walking along the path when the French gendarmes arrived nearby," the girl's mother told volunteers from the Red Cross at Turin Hospital. They came up to us and stopped us. Then, I heard gunshots."
Initially, the girl was admitted to hospital in Briançon, France, for treatment, according to the mother. That information has not been confirmed. The girl has left the Turin hospital and is in good health, according to the Ansa news agency.
The mother also confirmed that the girl recalled her nightmare after hearing the French gendarmerie's gunshots. The girl was 7 years old when she experienced an explosion in Afghanistan. In the explosion, she was wounded in the head.
In an interview with AFP, the French gendarmerie denied that there was a shooting. The French gendarmerie believes that the rumors are widespread because of the local operation against illegal immigrants and smugglers. A spokesman for the French Armed Forces Exchange Service (SIRPA) said that a thorough inspection exercise had been carried out, which included weapons, ammunition, and there was no evidence to support the allegations.
Matteo Salvini, an Italian far-right official, responded to the incident. He said France had driven illegal immigrants back to the Italian border town of Claviere, including an Afghan girl who was hospitalized in Turin. "We are all Europeans and I would like to ask why Italy is the only country that must receive illegal immigrants. A few days ago, the French interior minister was in Rome, and now, French gendarmes are facing charges for shooting."
It is reported that a large number of Tunisian and Libyan illegal immigrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea by boat and arrived in Italy. According to the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, the illegal immigrants, who were expelled from France this time, arrived in Italy by the Balkans (Balkans).