France is not available to receive asylum seekers which arrived in the last few days on the Italian island of Lampedusathe French interior minister said today Gerald Darmanenahead of his visit later today to Rome, where he will meet with his Italian counterpart Matteo Piandedosi.

“No, France will not, France wants to help Italy control its borders to stop people from coming”Darmanen said in an interview with Europe 1 radio station

“It would be an error of judgment to believe this, because immigrants arriving in Europe must immediately be distributed throughout Europe and Francewhich is already doing its part,” he added.

“What we want to say to our Italian friends, who I think they completely agree with, is that we must protect the EU’s external borders and, above all, deal with asylum claims promptly”said Darmanen.

“When they are not entitled to asylumpeople should be sent back to their country”he added.