Meloni under pressure
Rome wants to lock up migrants and deport them more quickly
September 18, 2023, 8:35 p.m
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Hundreds of people reach the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa every day in overcrowded boats. The issue of migration dominates the political debate, not just in Rome. Under pressure, Italy’s ultra-right Prime Minister Meloni decides to extend deportation detention and set up additional deportation camps.
Italy has adopted a package of tougher measures to curb irregular migration across the Mediterranean. This also includes a tightening of detention pending deportation with immediate effect. The right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni decided in Rome to increase the maximum length of detention pending deportation by six months. The military was also commissioned to set up special detention centers for deportation.
Migrants arrive in a boat on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa in mid-September.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa/LaPresse/AP)
According to information from those close to her in the cabinet, the ultra-right Prime Minister emphasized that the government was united behind the decision. In the past few days, several thousand migrants landed on the island of Lampedusa on boats from North Africa. Last Tuesday alone, more than 5,000 people arrived on the island between Sicily and North Africa – more than ever before in a single day. The initial reception center was extremely overcrowded at times. Thousands were then taken on ferries and police ships to Sicily or mainland Italy. According to the Ansa news agency, there are still around 1,300 people in the camp. The situation has now returned to normal somewhat. With this decision, the government has now also reacted to what has happened in the past few days.
However, according to media reports, chaotic scenes took place in a reception center in Sicily on Monday. In Porto Empedocle, around 100 migrants climbed over the fences and broke through barriers, the Ansa news agency reported.
Detention centers planned in remote areas
Specifically, the maximum length of detention pending deportation will be increased from 12 to 18 months in order to have more time to check the right to remain and, if necessary, to be able to deport directly from detention. Under EU law this is the maximum allowed. Meloni wants to ensure that those who arrived irregularly can be detained for as long as necessary for their applications to be examined. Deportations should take place quickly. The Ministry of Defense has been tasked with creating “structures” as quickly as possible to detain migrants who have entered the country irregularly, it said. These institutions are to be built in remote and sparsely populated areas. This should not lead to “further inconvenience and uncertainty in Italian cities,” said Meloni.
Because of the high migration numbers, the chairwoman of the right-wing national party Fratelli d’Italia is under massive pressure domestically. Tough action against migrants was one of her most important promises during the election campaign. However, recorded the Ministry of the Interior Since the beginning of the year there have already been more than 129,800 new arrivals – a year ago there were around 68,000 at this time.
During a visit to Lampedusa with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the Prime Minister had already announced tougher action on Sunday. The migrants must be prevented from crossing in North Africa, she demanded. The EU as a whole is required. “If we don’t take serious and joint action against illegal crossings, the numbers of this phenomenon will first overwhelm the states at the external borders, but then everyone else.”
Von der Leyen, for her part, announced a 10-point plan. The Mediterranean should be monitored more closely. “We can do this through Frontex,” she said, referring to the EU border protection agency. In addition, an expansion of naval operations in the Mediterranean should be examined. “We will decide who comes to the EU – and under what circumstances. And not the smugglers,” said the German. Meloni then expressed himself “quite optimistic” that evening. “We have to stop the human traffickers,” said the head of government in the talk show “Dritto e Rovescio” on the private broadcaster Rete4. She also renewed her call for a European mission to stop the departures from North Africa. In the cabinet she said: “The fight against illegal mass immigration and human traffickers is an epochal fight for Italy and for Europe.”