Rescues at sea, from Friday to Monday, exceeded 3,000. A situation that adds to the already complicated situation of recent weeks for which the governor of Sicily Renato Schifani had asked for government intervention. And that is why the Ministry of the Interior would be in favor of declaring a state of emergency to deal with the problem. “To limit” departures, declared the governor of Sicily, “it is necessary to intervene in the countries of departure and, among them, Tunisia”. Also because “the Lampedusa hotspot is not capable of handling these flows”, said Schifani. The hotspot has a maximum capacity of 400 people, but there are 1,500 to 2,500 on a permanent basis. It is therefore necessary to guarantee a transfer mechanism which, however, cannot be implemented either by the Coast Guard or the Navy involved in rescue operations, nor by liner ferries. The idea that has emerged in recent weeks is to ask the Defense for ad hoc Navy ships or the chartering of ferries from private companies. We’ll see what happens.
Another fundamental lever to ease the pressure on the island is to “share” the management of new arrivals with the other member countries of the European Union. Also because the situation of rescues in the Mediterranean is almost entirely up to Italy, given, for example, the attitude of Malta. “Malta’s attitude is starting to become scathing. It is not possible that he systematically turns a blind eye and never interferes” to rescue migrants in the Mediterranean. Tommaso Foti, leader of the Brothers of Italy group in the Chamber, told Tg4. alone using the Navy, because then – he concluded – it is clear that we cannot continue.” That is why it is desirable that at least the management of the “land” of migrants be shared with the other States of the Union.
Today, Brussels’ asylum policies are synthesized in the Common European System, which, however, is limited to regulating recognized international protection when conditions exist for granting subsidiary protection or refugee status. However, individual States can act independently to manage reception procedures, consequently creating an extremely fragmented system. Meanwhile, Italy remains the first country of arrival of refugees and migrants in Europe: in 2022 it registered more than 105,100 new arrivals and in the first 3 months of 2023 there were at least 28,750 arrivals, in addition to more than 173,600 Ukrainian refugees.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
