2023-09-18 19:20:00
11,000 migrants arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa in 3 days. Yesterday, the President of the European Commission visited the site and appealed for solidarity. But several countries, including Belgium, have already refused, also overwhelmed by this migration crisis.
Distributing the migrants from Lampedusa, not many people responded favorably to the request of the head of the European government. “Immigration is a European challenge“, affirms Ursula von der Leyen. “It requires a European response and solution.“
For Belgium, it’s no. We are already doing enough, replies the government. “It’s good that we ask everyone to make an effort“, says Alexander De Croo, the Prime Minister. “Because Belgium does much more than the others. Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands are doing much more than what we should be doing if everyone does something. So if we follow the logic of asking everyone to make an effort: no problem.“
Belgium is already doing a lot, the president of the Flemish Christian Democrats recalled on our radio yesterday. “We are united but at some point I ask everyone to have a little sense of reason and to understand that as a Belgian state, we cannot take on this responsibility.“, said Sammy Mahdi. “Belgium welcomes three times more asylum seekers than Italy.“
France also refuses
France is not more enthusiastic. “It cannot have a message to the people who come to our soil that they are welcomed in our countries whatever happens.“, says Gerald Darmanin, French Minister of the Interior. “They are if they are persecuted but if it is irregular immigration, no. France cannot accommodate them.“
“An unmanageable situation”
Only Germany seems ready to take it. Many of these migrants have already been transferred to centers in Calabria, Naples or even Sicily where the mayor of Porto Empedocle speaks of an unmanageable situation. “These conditions are inhumane“, said Calogero Martello. “We are in a village in Italy which cannot accommodate 2000 people. There are women and children who feel unwell, who have neither food nor water regularly. We kill each other for a piece of bread.“
The Italian government is due to announce this evening the creation of new detention centers and up to 18 months of detention for illegal immigrants before deportation. Enough to try to dissuade departures from North Africa.
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