More than half the children who disembarked from the Ocean Viking migrant rescue ship last week have fled from migrant reception centres, French authorities said.
Some 26 of the 44 unaccompanied youngsters have escaped the facilities made available to them, the council of the southern French Var region said in a statement on Friday.
Three left the centres the day after arriving on November 11, with the other 23 leaving on subsequent days, departmental official Jean-Louis Masson told French media.
Meanwhile, French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said this week 44 of the total 234 migrants face deportation “as soon as their health allows” – while more could also be deported.
A dispute over the maritime rescue ship's fate endangered EU efforts to cooperate with asylum seekers, so Mr. Darmanin reluctantly agreed to let it dock in Toulon.
Fury from far-right adversaries of the French government was unleashed after the Ocean Viking was welcomed in France.
While expressing relief, migrant activists bemoaned the length of time it took to find a harbour for the ship because Italy would not let it to dock.
They promised to deploy their ships back to the Mediterranean on Friday to help other people in need.
People from Eritrea, Egypt, Syria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and other countries, including 44 unaccompanied minors and young children as young as three, disembarked from the Ocean Viking at the port of Toulon.
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