France launched a probe yesterday and called for a European summit to combat illegal immigration, a day after 124 self-proclaimed Kurds landed in Corsica.
Immigration Minister Eric Besson underscored that the French Mediterranean island could not be allowed to become an entry point for illegal immigrants and mooted a European conference as an investigation began into who the traffickers were.
The migrants, who claimed they were Kurds from Syria, were dropped off near the southern town of Bonifacio last Friday by a boat which then departed, officials said.
It was the biggest known mass-scale landing on the French island of migrants, who usually try to enter Europe by sea through Sicily, Malta, Greece and Spain's Canary Islands.
The 57 men, 29 women - five of them pregnant - and 38 children were initially lodged in a gynasium in Bonifacio but yesterday they were being flown to mainland France to be housed in detention centres in cities such as Marseille and Lyon.
Each "case will be individually assessed", the immigration ministry said, adding that the migrants "will get an interpreter, a medical check-up, information on aid in case of voluntary return and legal help".
Besson earlier said some of the migrants identified themselves as Kurds from Syria and others said they were from North Africa.
Some of the immigrants resisted being shifted out from the gynasium but were forced into buses. Many had refused a meal late last Friday in protest against plans to relocate them.
Several rights groups slammed the government response. The League of Human Rights (LDH) said their transfer to detention centres went against the tenets of the French Republic.
"They are not 'illegals' living underground in France but refugees who after having arrived on French territory have the absolute right ...to seek exile," it said.
And Ava Basta (That's Enough), a local organisation espousing racial equality, denounced their transfer, saying it would have preferred them to "benefit from hospitality and solidarity that Corsicans have displayed in the past".
But Corsica's prefect, Stephane Bouillon, said the immigrants could demand exile and added that they were being moved from the gymnasium to ensure "better security and more salubrious surroundings".
Bouillon, the regional governor, said an investigation had been launched "since they were clearly brought in by traffickers whom we are now seeking actively... to dismantle such networks." The adults were grilled by police before being sent to the detention centres.
The immigrants were all devoid of identity papers but appeared in good health and were suitably dressed for the European weather, Bouillon said. "They said they did the journey in several stages across the Mediterranean and were transported up to Corsica on a cargo vessel," he added.
A source close to the case said the vessel in question was either Russian or Ukrainian.