Nigerian Migrant Drug Test Explodes Into Italy-France Diplomatic Spat

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Italy summoned the French ambassador for consultations Saturday after armed French border patrol agents used an Italian train station to force a Nigerian train passenger to provide a urine sample for a drug test.

France said it had a right to use the facility at the Bardonecchia train station west of Turin, citing a 1990 agreement.

But Italy shot back, saying just this month it had told French customs authorities that the station room was now off-limits because a humanitarian aid group was there to provide care and counseling for migrants seeking to make the dangerous Alpine crossing into France.

The incident underscored the heightened tensions following Italy's inconclusive March 4 election, which became a referendum on Italy's management of the European migrant crisis. Populist, right-wing and anti-immigrant parties scored big, capitalizing on Italian anger with the migrant influx and refusal of other European governments to share the burden.

The humanitarian group Rainbow4Africa had raised the alarm at what it called a "raid'' Friday night by five armed French border agents. It accused the agents of intimidating its doctor and other workers at Baronecchia and of violating the rights of the Nigerian passenger in their custody.

A volunteer who saw the incident told Sky TG24 that the Nigerian had Italian identity papers and a valid Paris-Naples train ticket.