Swiss neighboring countries
Italy declares a migration emergency – loud warnings are now also being given in Germany
Two of our neighboring countries have recorded a sharp increase in refugee flows in the first quarter of the year alone. Special measures are being taken in Italy.
updated
In Italy and Germany, the number of refugees who arrived rose sharply in the first quarter of 2023.
IMAGO/Daniel Kubirski
The domestic policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Alexander Throm, pointed out on Tuesday that 80.3 percent more initial asylum applications were made in Germany in the first quarter alone than in the same period of 2022.
IMAGO/Metodi Popow
Girogia Meloni’s Italian government plans to declare a state of emergency.
IMAGO/ZUMA Wire
“We are experiencing an absolute state of emergency that is putting a heavy burden on state structures. The southern Italian regions alone cannot cope with this emergency, »says Nello Musumeci, the Minister for Civil Protection.
IMAGO/Antonio Balasco
-
In Italy and Germany, a massive increase in migrants was recorded within the first quarter of 2023.
-
The government in Italy plans to impose a state of emergency so that reception centers for refugees can be set up more easily.
-
In addition, it was decreed that no refugees can currently return to Italy, which also has an impact on Switzerland.
In view of a sharp increase in initial applications for asylum, the Union Germany sees itself in the “worst migration crisis in years”. The domestic policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Alexander Throm, pointed out on Tuesday that in the first quarter alone 80,978 asylum applications were made. 80.3 percent more than in the same period last year. The figures had previously been published by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf).
Throm accused the traffic light coalition of making “not the slightest effort to finally get this crisis under control”. The CDU politician particularly criticized the attitude of Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) and Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner (FDP), who did not leave any scope for further federal funds to the local authorities the reception and care of refugees see. This attitude “shows a significant loss of reality throughout the government,” criticized Throm. The behavior of the “traffic light” has “already significantly reduced public acceptance of the current migration policy,” he added.
State of emergency in Italy
The Italian government has decided on a nationwide state of emergency because of the recent high number of migrations via the Mediterranean route. This is valid for six months and should initially make five million euros available to the particularly affected regions in the south, the Ansa news agency reported on Tuesday. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office confirmed the reports on request. With the state of emergency, it should therefore be easier to set up new reception centers for refugees.
The arrival of thousands of migrants has been discussed in Italy for some time. The Ministry of the Interior in Rome counted more than 31,000 people who reached Italy on boats this year – in the same period last year there were around 7,900.
A number of people try once more and once more to reach the Italian islands of Lampedusa and Sicily as well as the Italian mainland or Malta with often unseaworthy boats from Tunisia and Libya via the Mediterranean Sea. The highly dangerous crossings sometimes lead to devastating boat accidents, such as at the end of February off the coast of Calabria with at least 90 dead.
Four times more refugees arrived in Italy than in 2022
Die NZZ reports that around 28,000 migrants arrived in Italy in the first three months of this year. That is at least four times as many as in the same period of 2022. Italy suspended the Dublin Agreement last December because, according to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, there was no longer any capacity for admission. Since then, Rome has stopped taking back refugees that Italy was the first country to take in and would have to take them back.
According to the NZZ, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) recently informed the cantons that the blockade would last even longer. Cantonal authorities had received a circular instructing them not to plan any Dublin returns to Italy until at least May 2. “We communicated this deadline in order to prevent administrative idleness,” SEM spokesman Samuel Wyss is quoted as saying. The deadline is an internal regulation and there is no specific date or sign from Italy when the recording freeze will end.
With the daily update you stay informed regarding your favorite topics and don’t miss any more news regarding current world events.
Receive the most important information directly in your mailbox every day.
(AFP/jar)
