2023-09-18 15:42:02
ROME (AP) — The Italian cabinet met Monday to adopt new measures to crack down on migration following the southern island of Lampedusa was once more overwhelmed by a wave of arrivals from Tunisia and the migration issue returned to center stage in Europe with talks regarding a naval blockade.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said the cabinet’s measures will focus on migrants who do not qualify for asylum and are scheduled to be repatriated to their home countries. The plan is to extend the time these people can be detained to the European Union maximum of 18 months and increase the number of detention centers to hold them until they are returned, as capacity in Italy has always been insufficient.
Meloni announced the “extraordinary measures” following Lampedusa, which is closer to Tunisia than mainland Italy, was overwhelmed last week by the arrival of almost 7,000 migrants in one day, more than the island’s resident population. Italy has been slowly ferrying them to Sicily and other ports, but the arrivals once once more stoked tensions on the island and in political corridors ahead of next year’s European Parliament elections.
Amid EU and domestic political maneuvering, Meloni resurrected campaign calls for a naval blockade of North Africa to prevent human traffickers from launching their smuggling boats into the Mediterranean.
Meloni was present in Tunisia when the European Commission signed an agreement with the Tunisian government promising economic aid in exchange for assistance to prevent migrant departures; A similar agreement was signed years ago with Libya.
Human rights groups have criticized the Libya deal as a violation of international maritime law, insisting that Libya is not a safe port and that migrants intercepted by the Libyan coast guard are returned to detention centers where abuses are rife.
Meloni visited Lampedusa on Sunday alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who promised a tough line and presented a 10-point plan that included a commitment to support preventing smuggling boat departures.
The plan envisages a possible working agreement between Tunisia and Frontex, the EU border force, with air and sea assets currently assisting search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, and a coordination working group within Europol , the European police.
The Commission does not rule out the possibility of a naval blockade. “We have expressed our support for exploring these possibilities” raised by Italy, Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said Monday.
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Cook reported from Brussels and Charlton from Paris.
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