So many refugees have arrived in Lampedusa that it is unbearable for migrants and residents. EU Commission chief von der Leyen took a look – and presented possible solutions.
When EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen enters the reception center in Lampedusa, refugees crowd around her.
In her press statement an hour and a half later, she will report the following about her site visit: “We met the incredible population of Lampedusa, we spoke to the staff at the reception center.” In these days, the population did “their best” to support the people who made it to the island.
At the same time, she could also see that the situation was difficult – and that a European solution was needed.
Last week, so many people arrived in Lampedusa that the reception center was completely overloaded – an unreasonable burden for aid workers as well as for the migrants: “I had two pieces of bread. They shared it between eight people. Starving,” says one Woman: “A little piece each, with terrible hunger.”
He has been here for almost seven days, says a Tunisian. “There is no food, no clothes, we still have the same clothes we had on when we arrived. There are no showers, just a smell.”
Some of the refugees have to endure inhumane conditions.
Inhumane Conditions
At times, around 7,000 people were accommodated in the reception center – it was designed to accommodate 680. For a few days now, the authorities have been bringing refugees to mainland Italy or Sicily. But that is not a solution. Hundreds of migrants still arrive on the island every day.
The citizens of Lampedusa feel helpless – and demand solutions. “We don’t want Lampedusa to turn into an open-air prison,” says one of them. “We are for the recording, a proper recording, a legal one,” another.
Meloni calls for a European solution
The domestic political pressure on Prime Minister Meloni is growing. This is also why she invited the President of the EU Commission to Lampedusa: In her press statement that day, she once again called for proposed solutions – European ones at that: “I see the visit not only as a gesture of solidarity towards Italy, but rather as a gesture of responsibility Europe towards itself – because the borders of Italy are the borders of Europe.”
The only option is to stop migrants before they leave North Africa. In addition, the migration agreement with Tunisia must be launched soon – the North African country should receive aid money and in return take stronger action against illegal crossings.
“We decide who comes to the EU”
Von der Leyen then responds to Meloni’s demand for a tougher line in asylum policy: We have an obligation as part of the international community, “we have fulfilled this in the past and we will do so today and in the future. But: We will decide who comes to the European Union and under what conditions – and not the smugglers.”
At the end of her visit it is clear: Von der Leyen wants to combat illegal migration. In the future, she would like to monitor the Mediterranean more closely, including with the help of Frontex and the North African countries. She also wants to make legal migration easier – in her opinion, the prerequisite for acting even more strictly in the case of illegal arrivals.