2023-09-18 04:59:42
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Italy’s cabinet discusses the migration crisis in Lampedusa
As of: 06:59 a.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
Rescued people sit on a bus after getting off a boat in Lampedusa.
Those: Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP/dpa
The arrival of thousands of refugees in a short space of time is pushing the island of Lampedusa to its limits. The EU announces support. Italy’s cabinet wants to take tougher action.
In view of the arrival of several thousand boat migrants on Lampedusa, the Italian cabinet today wants to launch a package of measures to curb irregular migration. In her own words, the ultra-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wants to take “extraordinary measures”.
She had already announced decisions to tighten detention pending deportation and the establishment of deportation detention centers by the military. Yesterday, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen assured Italy of European support.
Thousands of migrants arrived on the small Mediterranean island between Sicily and North Africa last week. On Tuesday alone, the authorities counted around 5,000 people who reached the island’s harbor on boats – more than ever before in a single day. Many people have now been taken from Lampedusa to Sicily or to accommodation on the mainland. Nevertheless, the island’s initial reception center is still completely overloaded.
Prime Minister Meloni had already made it clear in a video message on social media on Friday evening that the focus of the resolutions should be increasing the maximum length of detention for deportations to 18 months. According to EU law, this is the maximum allowed. By tightening detention pending deportation, Meloni wants to ensure that those who entered the country irregularly can be held for as long as is necessary for the examination of the respective asylum application. This should make possible deportation easier.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense should be given the task of creating structures to detain migrants who have entered the country irregularly. According to Meloni, the facilities should be built “in remote, sparsely populated areas” that can be easily isolated and monitored.
Meanwhile, EU Commission chief von der Leyen assured Italy of European support during her short-term visit to Lampedusa. According to her, the Mediterranean should be monitored more closely.
“We can do this through Frontex,” she said, referring to the EU border protection agency. She added that she supported exploring options for expanding naval operations in the Mediterranean or working on new operations. «We will decide who comes to the European Union – and under what circumstances. And not the smugglers.”
Meloni called for tougher action against migrants. People in North Africa would have to be prevented from crossing to Europe. Redistributing people across member states does not solve the problem. She said it was up to the entire EU to deal with the situation.
Because of the high migration numbers, Meloni is under massive domestic political pressure. According to the Interior Ministry, more than 127,200 people have already reached the country via the Mediterranean this year (as of September 15). In the same period last year there were around 66,200.
Former Federal President Joachim Gauck spoke out in favor of a “new determination” in European refugee policy. In the ZDF program “Berlin Direkt” yesterday evening, Gauck said that politicians must discover “that the measures taken so far have not been enough to remedy the loss of control that has obviously occurred.” A “new determination” must give the people of Europe the impression that governments are willing and able to act. “And this obviously requires a debate on new paths and not just a tweaking of adjustment screws.”
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