Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are engaged in a standoff over the migration crisis. Germany announced on Wednesday that it was suspending the voluntary reception of asylum seekers from Italy, provided for by the European agreements, due to “strong migratory pressure” and Rome’s refusal to apply these same agreements. The German government informed Rome of its decision “at the end of August”, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said.
This suspension “until further notice” concerns the “voluntary European solidarity mechanism” which organizes the relocation of asylum seekers from the country of arrival in the EU to other voluntary Member States, in order to relieve States like Italy and Greece, which are gateways to Europe.
Borders that close
Berlin explains this decision by “the current strong migratory pressure towards Germany” as well as by “the persistent suspension of transfers from Dublin by certain member states”, including Italy, which “reinforces the major challenges for Germany in terms of reception and accommodation capacities”. The Dublin regulation, very controversial among the Twenty-seven, provides that the country of arrival of a migrant in the EU processes his asylum application.
However, wrote the German newspaper Die Welt, the Italian government of Giorgia Meloni no longer takes back asylum seekers who want to transfer it from other countries, having informed its partners in December 2022 that Italy no longer had sufficient reception capacity. “Out of more than 12,400 requests for care made to Italy this year until the end of August, ten transfers have been carried out so far,” confirmed Maximilian Kall, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior.
Giorgia Meloni, whose Fratelli d’Italia party won the legislative elections a year ago on the promise of putting an end to mass immigration, assured Wednesday that she was not surprised by Berlin’s decision. “The problem of relocation is secondary,” she insisted. “The question (…) is to stop arrivals in Italy. I still don’t see any concrete answers.” During the interview, she also reiterated her call for more help from the EU, adding: “Our reception sites (for migrants) are full.”
Under the voluntary relocation mechanism, Germany has so far accepted the transfer of 1,700 asylum seekers who arrived in southern Europe, out of the 3,500 people it has committed to welcoming. The subject is also becoming very sensitive, against a backdrop of the rise of the far right in the polls and the increase in illegal immigration for several months.