Italian authorities are searching for a truck driver who assaulted Eritrean migrants near a rest stop at the French border. A video circulating online shows the driver whipping the women with a cargo strap as they exited the truck.
The smugglers had transported the twelve women onto the truck while the driver was having lunch. According to the migrants, the driver had received payments from them ranging between 100 and 150 euros to transport them across the border. However, after they boarded the truck, the temperature inside became unbearably high, causing them distress. As they were getting off the truck, the driver began whipping them one by one. The video shows one woman standing firm as she took the blows while trying to protect the others, while another attempted to snatch the belt from the driver’s hand.
The authorities returned the women to the reception center where they had been staying, run by the Caritas association. Serena Regazzoni, an official with the association, stated that this was the women’s third attempt to cross the border. Ventimiglia, a town on the Italian coast, is a key point on the migrant route from the Mediterranean. Many migrants pass through here in their efforts to reach northern European countries and reunite with their families.
Italian authorities condemned the truck driver’s actions, though the city’s mayor, while also denouncing the incident, expressed sympathy for the driver, noting that he risked arrest by French authorities for transporting illegal immigrants.
The driver has yet to be found, and according to city officials, he is unlikely to be penalized for his actions as this would require a formal complaint from the women themselves.
