Pro-immigrant group accused of helping migrants cross France-Italy border illegally
A RIGHT-WING politician has accused a pro-immigrant group of being "human traffickers" and claimed they are helping migrants cross a border illegally.
Eric Ciotti described the Nice-based Roya Citoyenne as "people smugglers" and claimed they were helping immigrants cross between Italy and France.
Mr Ciotti accused the left-wing activists of helping hundreds of African immigrants cross over via the Roya Valley's police-free mountain roads..
The president of the Alpes-Maritimes department also said the pro-migrant group should be charged with "assisting unlawful immigration"..
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It comes after Roya Citoyenne's de-facto leaders filed a complaint against 'persons unknown' and accused Nice officials of failing to fulfil their "moral obligations towards unaccompanied child migrants".
The Nice-based Roya Citoyenne are 'people smugglers'
A spokesperson for the pro-migrant group added "abandoned" lone child migrants should be offered sanctuary in France, and should not be sent back to Italy - their "first safe country of arrival".
The left-wing group added that they had filed the complaint in a bid to remind local authorities of their "duty" to protect vulnerable children.
Mr Ciotti, however, claimed Roya Citoyenne were running an "underground human trafficking network" and that the child migrants were their "victims" and not the state's.
The right-wing official said that the Roya valley, which is on the border between France and Italy, was turning into a "lawless zone governed by extreme-left scofflaws engaged in an ideological crusade".
More than 33,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested at the Franco-Italian border since January, a Nice prefecture spokesperson said.
Only 348 unaccompanied child migrants, however, are currently being cared for by the local authorities compared to some 1,500 children last year.
