“Italy cannot, on its own, accommodate all the misery in the world”, this refrain is known to the Italian authorities. So far, no new plan from the European Union (EU), apart from financial aid, has been implemented to concretely help this country bordered by 8,000 km2 of coastline and of which the island of Lampedusa is one of the main gateways to Europe for migrants.
A six-month migration emergency
For the first time since 2011, the year of the “Tunisian spring” (1), the Italian government has declared a state of migratory emergency. Between January 1 and April 12, 2023, the country received 31,357 migrants, compared to 8,432 during the same period in 2022.
Most of the boats coming from Tunisia and Libya were rescued in the Mediterranean by the Italian coast guard, which has shown greater speed since the tragedy in Cutro (Calabria). On February 26, for lack of help arriving in time, at least 92 migrants out of the 180 shipwrecked had drowned.
The state of migratory emergency, lasting a minimum of six months, provides for the appointment of an extraordinary commissioner with full powers to coordinate, with the Civil Protection and the Red Cross, various interventions, financed by a 5 million euros.
Improve reception networks in the territory
The objective is to better manage the arrival of migrants, by chartering ships and charter planes to relieve congestion as quickly as possible. « hot spots » (landing platforms). In particular that of Lampedusa, overwhelmed. The state of emergency should also make it possible to improve the reception networks on the territory, to install tent villages and to requisition state buildings for asylum seekers.
Another measure, demanded by the Minister of Infrastructure, head of the League and declared anti-migrants, Matteo Salvini, each region will have to be equipped with centers for repatriations in order to speed up expulsions. There are currently ten of them, for a total capacity of 1,300 places. In addition, a decree aimed at restricting as much as possible the right to humanitarian protection, a status granted to migrants who do not fall into the category of political refugees, nor into that of subsidiary protection, will be submitted for consideration by Parliament on 18 april.
So many decisions criticized by the center-left opposition. «The state of migratory emergency is window dressing! A useless act of government propaganda,” annoys the senator of the Democratic Party Valeria Valente.
“It would be smarter to create a new “Mare Nostrum” mission, to stop blocking NGO ships in ports and to directly involve municipalities, for the care of migrants», echoes the Sicilian mayor of Pozzallo, Roberto Ammatuna.
For its part, the European Commission specifies that it will have to “examine in detail the standards laid down» and remember that “Italy is one of the main beneficiaries of the EU fund for migration and integration”. In other words, she is already expressing doubts about the merits of the state of migratory emergency of the Meloni government.