The French government is investigating just how some 124 illegal immigrants on the island of Corsica last Friday and have launched a massive hunt for the trafficking gang that appears to have abandoned them there. Though a common sight on the Italian islands close to North Africa, immigrants travelling via French territory have traditionally been very rare.

The French Meditteranean Island is now in danger of becoming the new processing point for European asylum seekers according to French authorities, something Immigration Mister Eric Beeson is determined to not be allowed to happen. Beeson claimed the incident should serve as a reminder that the EU needs to upgrade its international border patrols lest the Mediterranean fall completely into the hands of trafficking gangs. Beeson further called for crisis talks to be held by EU immigration ministers with a view to strengthening controls and emergency measures along the sea’s coastline.

According to official reports a total of 38 children, 29 women – five of them pregnant – and 57 men were taken ashore close to the southern township of Bonifacio. The boat then sped away and remains to be found by Italian coastguards who are working together with French officials. Many of those abandoned claimed to be Syrian Kurds or from the Middle East while others reportedly came from North Africa.

Most of the group is now being transported to mainland detention centres inside France after initially being housed in a gymnasium near where they were found. French authorities have said that each case will be treated individually and that medical checks would be carried out before any attempts were made at a voluntary return.

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