Is the next asylum dispute looming? Due to the high migration pressure to Germany, the Ministry of the Interior in Berlin has now stopped the voluntary admission of migrants from Italy.
As the German “Welt” reports, the selection processes for asylum seekers arriving in Italy as part of the “voluntary solidarity mechanism” have been halted. The background to the suspension is Italy’s continued refusal to allow so-called Dublin transfers from Germany. Under current EU asylum law, asylum seekers who move to another Member State without permission must generally be returned to the country of first entry. That rarely works anyway, but Italy has been completely blocking it for nine months.
Mayor of Lampedusa asks army for help
The Italian island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea has been dealing with a record number of migrants since Tuesday. 5,112 people reached the island on board 110 boats, more than ever before in one day. Another 29 boats with almost 1,300 people on board reached Lampedusa on Wednesday morning. About 1,900 migrants had already reached the Mediterranean island on Monday on 51 boats. More than 6,000 people are staying in the island’s reception camp. After a period in which the arrival of migrants on the island decreased somewhat, a kind of queue of small metal boats sometimes formed that wanted to dock in the harbor in front of the pier of the island’s harbor.
“I have been saying for weeks that this is an epoch-making phenomenon, with figures that are no longer sustainable for our island,” Lampedusa Mayor Filippo Mannino said on Wednesday. He called on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government to deploy the army to stop the migrants. “Our small island is no longer able to cope with such a wave of migrants, the size of which exceeds the number of inhabitants itself. Against this background, it is impossible to guarantee adequate assistance for the migrants, despite enormous logistical efforts,” the local boss said. He called on the government to use naval vessels to intercept the migrant boats and take them directly to Sicily or the Italian mainland. 6,000 people live on the 20 square kilometer island of Lampedusa.
France increases border controls
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Tuesday that police would be strengthened along the French-Italian border to curb illegal entry. “We have noticed a 100 percent increase in migration flows from Italy,” Darmanin told reporters after visiting the border post in Menton.
The minister announced that the number of mobile units will be expanded from two to four, making them a total of more than 200 people. Similarly, the number of soldiers deployed for night patrols in the mountains as part of Operation Sentinel will be increased from 60 to 120. The Home Secretary also said the number of customs officers should be doubled.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
