They added that police often utilised violence and inhumane treatment as well as arbitrary detention.
“Our team has witnessed extremely vulnerable people being pushed back indiscriminately by French police, regardless of their individual circumstances and without appropriate assessment,” said Sergio Di Dato, MSF project coordinator.
He spoke from the Italian border city of Ventimiglia, where MSF runs a mobile clinic.
MSF said many of the people encountered by its teams reported procedural violations during the notification of the refusal of entry by French authorities.
Violations included inaccurate transcription of personal data, lack of information or absence of intercultural mediators.
It said vulnerable people such as minors, pregnant women, new mothers, elderly people or severely ill persons were not exempted from this practice.
More than a third among the 48 unaccompanied minors assisted by MSF teams reported to have been pushed back to Italy, it said.
Several individuals reported being arbitrarily detained in containers during the night, without any specific protection for women and children.
MSF also said that access to adequate shelter, healthcare, clean water, or sanitary facilities is extremely limited for people transiting in Ventimiglia.
The organisation called on Italy, France, and other European countries to implement all necessary measures to prevent further harm to vulnerable people in transit, and to put an end to systematic and indiscriminate pushbacks.
ANSA
