How should the EU deal with the high number of migrants? After consultations between the interior ministers remained inconclusive, EU Commission President von der Leyen is visiting Lampedusa today. Italy’s Prime Minister Meloni insists on EU intervention.
Thousands of migrants, a completely overcrowded reception center and an island at the limit – EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa today and find out about the situation on site. She is accepting an invitation from the Italian Prime Minister.
Giorgia Meloni addressed the EU in a video message on Friday after around 8,5000 refugees arrived on the 20 square kilometer island within three days.
Meloni, for example, called for a European mission to stop migrant boats on their way to Europe. If necessary, the navy must be deployed, said the right-wing politician. According to their idea, people in North Africa should be stopped from leaving the sea. Such an operation must start “immediately”.
Consultations of the interior ministers without result
The EU member states have so far disagreed about how Italy can be supported. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser consulted with her counterparts from Italy, France and Spain on Saturday. However, the telephone conference, in which EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson also took part, did not produce any concrete results, a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior said upon request. The conversation will continue on Monday.
According to the spokesman, Faeser offered Germany’s humanitarian support. This is now being examined. “There was agreement that Tunisia must respect the obligations arising from the agreements with the European Union in order to prevent life-threatening crossings across the Mediterranean.”
EUSolidarity mechanism remains suspended
The spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior also announced that Germany will not accept any more migrants from Italy through the voluntary solidarity mechanism for the time being. There are currently no interviews taking place to prepare for further takeovers. However, there are still some migrants who have already gone through the process and are being accepted. The spokesman added that interviews to prepare for takeovers could “restart at any time”.
Interior Minister Faeser had on Friday evening in the daily News With regard to the arrival of numerous migrants on Lampedusa, he said that it was “of course clear that we will also fulfill our solidarity obligations”. This raised the question of whether Germany would now continue the voluntary admission program again.
Recording program suspended since August
The federal government suspended the voluntary admission program in August – also in protest against the fact that Italy is currently blocking the readmission of refugees according to the so-called Dublin rules. These stipulate that asylum seekers who move on to another member state without permission are usually returned to the country of first entry.
As part of the voluntary admission process, Germany had promised to take in up to 3,500 people seeking protection from countries on the EU’s southern external border, where a particularly large number of migrants are currently arriving. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, more than 1,700 people seeking protection have been admitted so far – around 1,000 of them from Italy. Others who are not affected by the suspension of the program have already received confirmation of admission.
800 refugees within one day
Meanwhile, the situation on Lampedusa remains tense. More than 800 people arrived on more than a dozen boats on Saturday alone, reported the Italian news agency Ansa. According to Italian media reports, a baby who was born during the crossing died on one of the boats. The mother went into labor on the boat. With the help of other fellow travelers, she gave birth to the baby. According to reports, the infant died shortly after birth.
This week, a five-month-old boy drowned during a rescue operation off Lampedusa after a boat coming from North Africa with migrants on board capsized.
Meloni announced that he would take “extraordinary measures”. These should be decided in a cabinet meeting on Monday. Italy has been ruled by a right-wing alliance since October 2022. The ultra-right Meloni promised to restrict migration. So far she has not been able to fulfill her election promise. According to figures from the Interior Ministry in Rome, more migrants have come to Italy by sea since the beginning of the year than in the whole of 2022. By September 15th there were around 127,200 people.