With thousands of migrants arriving on Italian shores daily, ministers, local leaders, and regional heads in Italy are sounding the alarm and calling on the European Union for assistance in managing irregular migration, the specialized European affairs media platform “Euractiv” reported on Monday.
Italian Minister of Projects and Industry Adolfo Urso while visiting the Contra Embricola Reception Center in Lampedusa, the Italian island closest to North African coasts, stated, “The situation in Lampedusa is known to everyone, and it is necessary for Europe to lend us a helping hand, us Italians, so that we can manage this phenomenon better.”
According to Euractiv, there are nearly 5,000 people in the center of Lampedusa, and authorities state that the island is unable to accommodate more. From January 1 to August 25, about 107,530 migrants have arrived in Italy.
Various actions are planned for migrants, first by boat and then by buses to other reception centers in northern Italy, which are also on the verge of collapse.
Regional leaders complain about the lack of resources and necessary facilities to accommodate migrants.
Euractiv noted that the Italian Cabinet will discuss, in its first meeting after the summer break, a decree regarding migration flows. This decree will allow 450,000 legal foreigners to join thousands of undocumented migrants already in the country.
The Cabinet will also consider issuing a new security decree that permits the deportation of undocumented foreigners and enforces stricter age verification measures for suspected underage migrants.
Transport Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and League leader, Matteo Salvini, emphasized the need for a new security decree to be enacted starting in September. Italy cannot continue to be a point of entry for migrants arriving from the other side of the world.
Italy declared a state of emergency in April, lasting for six months, to address the issue of irregular migration after a “significant increase” in migrant flows across the Mediterranean.
This move aims to improve the management of migrant reception processes and their eventual repatriation.
