Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Lampedusa for a visit to the island together with the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ylva Johansson.
“We are doing everything we can,” the Prime Minister told a group of citizens who blocked the road to the convoy of cars on the way from the airport to the hotspot. The reference is to the situation of migrants, whose presence is increasingly numerous.
Arrivals continue these days too.
«I spoke on the phone, after sending him a letter, with the President of the European Council Michel. I'm waiting for an official response, but I'm optimistic that it will be discussed. Also because in recent days I have spoken with many of the leaders of the European Council and they are all very sensitive to a matter that they understand to be of importance for each of us", Meloni responded to questions about migrants and whether the topic has entered the agenda day of the next European Council.
The Prime Minister, with regards to management, underlined some points: «I have always believed that management paths should be different between single men of working age and mothers and those under 14. It is also the subject of the measures that we will take tomorrow in the Council of ministers, the hypothesis of extending detention for repatriation concerns the less fragile, the issue of women and children under 14 must be treated separately".
While on the naval mission, «I continue to say what I have always said: the only serious way to deal with this matter is to help the North African authorities manage the flow of those leaving, and these are initiatives that must be done in agreement with the authorities North African". «In the past – he added – European naval missions were carried out which had the limitation of representing more of a pull factor, an element of push for migratory flows rather than a block. But I believe that we need to start again from the second and third part of the Sophia mission, which was never realized because the first part turned out to be a sort of pull factor."
«For me it is very important to be here today» together with the Italian authorities, were the words of Ursula von der Leyen, «Illegal immigration is a European challenge that requires a European response». "We will decide who arrives in Europe and not the traffickers," he said again. Finally: «Italy can count on the EU».
In the plan presented at the end of the visit there are ten action points.
1) Concrete support to Italy through Frontex, the asylum agency and other entities, to address the crisis by welcoming, registering and identifying migrants arriving on the island.
2) Intensification of EU efforts to transfer migrants from Lampedusa to other destinations, urging member countries to activate the voluntary solidarity mechanism to welcome them.
3) Support of Frontex structures for repatriations and intensification, for this purpose, of relations with the countries of origin.
4) Increase in actions to fight against traffickers also through strengthening legislation and greater collaboration with countries of origin and transit.
5) Intensification of air and naval surveillance through Frontex but also evaluating the possibility, as requested by Italy, of new Sophia-type naval missions.
6) Concrete actions against traffickers' logistics, i.e. ensuring that boats used for human trafficking are seized and destroyed.
7) The staff of the EU Asylum Agency will work alongside and help the Italian authorities in order to speed up the examination of the applications presented by migrants by rejecting unfounded ones and sending those who presented them back to their countries of origin.
8) Offer valid alternatives to illegal routes through the strengthening of humanitarian corridors, "the most effective measure - underlined von der Leyen - to counter the lies of traffickers and break the vicious circle" that has been created.
9) Strengthen collaboration with UN agencies (UNHCR and IOM) to always guarantee the protection of migrants even during assisted returns.
10) Arrive as soon as possible with Tunisia, as part of the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed last July, to the definition of new projects for the fight against illegal trafficking of migrants and thus arrive at the release of the funds made available by 'Eu.
(Unioneonline/ss)
