After hundreds of migrants tried to escape illegally to France on Friday, they were brought back to Italy by the police, while a few activists were arrested.
"This proves that we are unable to completely stop the inflow of so-called migrant workers, among which there are also hated members of the Islamic State (Daesh)," the politician told Sputnik. "This proves that there is no longer any way to control our borders, which, I would say do not exist," he added.
"What do you call it when… foreigners massively enter the territory of our country? This is called invasion," Collard said.
Ventimiglia where the recent incident took place is a commune in northern Italy located 7 km from the French-Italian border.
According to the politician, the French police do not have enough resources to ensure control of the border.
"The system can‘t cope with it. It broke down and our police are now undertaking superhuman, exhausting efforts to more or less send migrants back. Now there are about thousand migrants in Italy, Ventimiglia, who can cross the border whenever they want. Two hundred people still can be sent back, but will we be able to stop five or six hundred? Hard to say. In any case, this leads to anxious thoughts with regard to the authority of the state, the strength of the state. Because France — and believe me, I'm really sorry about this — is unable to control its borders," the politician stated.
Over the past year, France has repeatedly become target of terrorist attacks, including the deadly shooting at Charlie Hebdo's office in Paris in January 2015, a series of attacks on November 13 in Paris and the recent truck attack in Nice. The attacks raised serious concerns regarding the growing influx of migrants to Europe and possible security threats arising from it.
"Several months ago, the Islamic State (Daesh) has informed us there are terrorists among migrants. Even the minister of defense spoke of human bombs, but we still let them enter, enter and enter (our country) ignoring the risk of death. Who knows — maybe migrants are good, but maybe not. The state is opting itself out. I don't understand how the authorities do not think about the safety of their citizens to such extent," the politician concluded.
