Italy continues to tighten its refugee policy. In the future, rejected migrants will have to pay a deposit of 5,000 euros in order to avoid detention pending deportation. Germany’s help for refugees is also causing anger in Rome.
Italy has decided that rejected asylum seekers should pay a kind of deposit of 4,938 euros in the future. In this way, they could avoid being placed in detention pending deportation while their appeal is being examined. If the asylum seeker then disappears unjustified, the deposit will be withheld.
The money is intended to cover the costs of accommodation and living expenses for one month as well as the costs of repatriation in the event of a final rejection of the application. This is provided for by a decree published in Italy’s official gazette.
Regulation of irregular migration
This sum should be demanded from people who have tried to circumvent border controls. Those who are fundamentally not entitled to asylum because they come from a country of origin that has been declared safe should also pay.
Left-wing opposition politicians sharply criticized the regulation of the ultra-right government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni; the decision was criticized as “inhumane”. A few days before the decree was published, Italy announced that it would increase the maximum length of detention pending deportation for rejected asylum seekers to 18 months.
New dispute between Rome and Berlin
Meanwhile, Italy is angry with Germany. The government in Rome called for clarification about German plans to use state financial aid to support aid organizations in Italy that rescue migrants in distress at sea. Those close to Meloni said that this was a “serious anomaly” in dealings between European states, according to the Italian news agency Ansa.
The Foreign Office pointed out that the federal government was only implementing an already known decision from the Bundestag. “The aim is to promote both civil sea rescue at sea and projects on land for those rescued from distress at sea,” said a spokesman for the ministry. The first payments to a project for supplies on land and one for rescue at sea are imminent. The funding amounts to between 400,000 and 800,000 euros.
130,000 Boat refugees since the beginning of the year
According to figures from the Interior Ministry, around 130,000 boat refugees have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year. This is almost twice as many as in the whole of 2022. As of Monday last week, Italy registered more than 15,000 boat refugees.
A focal point is the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, which is only 145 kilometers north of Tunisia. More than 10,000 migrants disembarked there this month alone.