The issue of migration is once again controversial within the EU. Over the weekend, Italian Prime Minister Melloni sent a letter to German Chancellor Scholz protesting German government funding of NGOs that help irregular migrants in Italy. She said she was "surprised" by the German government's approach.
In recent times, Italy has once again been at the center of the spiral of Europe's migration crisis. On the southern island of Lampedusa, more than 11,000 people landed in a week. The Italian government has introduced tough measures to prevent more illegal immigrants from entering Italy.
Italy and Germany, both EU countries, have clashed over migration several times since September. Across the EU, progress on an effort to reform EU immigration and asylum policy has been slow due to growing divisions among countries. A senior EU diplomat said the immigration issue could become "a force to break up the EU."
Italy complains that Germany funds migrant aid NGOs
"I was surprised to learn that your government, without coordination with the Italian government, has allegedly decided to provide substantial financial support to NGOs working on irregular migrant reception and Mediterranean relief work in Italy." Meloni wrote in a letter to Scholz.
According to Deutsche Welle, the private letter was signed on September 23 and was received and published by several Italian and international media outlets at the beginning of the week.
Meloni was referring to the new policy announced by the German Foreign Ministry on Friday. The German government has decided to provide support to two nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), one focusing on land and the other on rescuing migrant boats in the Mediterranean, a spokesman for the German Foreign Office said Sept. 22.
According to reports, the two NGOs will receive funding of 400,000 to 800,000 euros respectively. According to the Federal Foreign Office, rescue at sea is a "statutory, humanitarian and moral obligation."
The Italian side was very unhappy with the German move. Earlier, Italian Defense Minister Guido Croseto said in an interview with Italian media on the 24th that Germany's move was "very serious" and "the German side pretended not to realize that it would bring trouble to a country that was theoretically a friend." Croseto also said that Italy is working to combat smuggling, and smugglers who organize the smuggling of migrants should be dealt with as "international criminals".
On September 14, 2023, local time, Campania, Italy, migrants landed on a merchant ship. Photo/Visual China
Italy is one of the main "landing points" for migrants entering EU countries by boat from North Africa via the Mediterranean. More than 132,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by boat so far this year, almost double the 69,000 in the same period last year, according to the latest figures from the Italian Interior Ministry.
Meloni officially took office last October, becoming Italy's first female prime minister. She comes from the far-right party Brothers Italia and has been calling for a tough immigration policy. Meloni has accused foreign civilian rescue boats of becoming "ferries" for illegal immigrants, saying she will not let Italy become "Europe's refugee camp."
Last week, Meloni's government signed a new measure giving authorities an extension of people's detention in pre-deportation detention centers to 18 months, Reuters reported.
Italy also stipulates that people waiting for asylum applications to be processed must pay a deposit to avoid detention. The deposit reportedly stood at around 5,000 euros, a move that drew criticism from some humanitarian groups. In addition, the Italian government has tried to prevent some NGO rescue boats from staying in port, saying they may encourage migrants to travel to Europe by boat.
In fact, Italy's dissatisfaction with the work of German private aid organizations in the Mediterranean has a long history, as it had been highlighted during previous Italian governments.
On June 8, 2023, local time, Rome, Italy, Italian Prime Minister Meloni met with German Chancellor Scholz at the Palace of Kigi. Photo/Visual China
For almost the entire month of this year, Italy and Germany debated the issue of immigration. Earlier this month, as more migrants arrived on the island of Lampedusa by boat, Germany suspended its participation in an EU voluntary mechanism under which Germany could receive some asylum seekers from Italy, according to German media reports.
Germany said it suspended its participation in the mechanism because the Meloni government almost completely stopped accepting migrants that Germany believes Italy should accept under current EU rules.
Migration as a "force to break up the EU"?
As the tide of smuggling intensifies in Europe, opposition to accepting illegal immigrants in Italy has grown, and some Mediterranean countries, including Italy, have accused other EU countries of failing to share the burden of accepting illegal immigrants as promised.
In a letter to Scholz, Meloni suggested that EU member states should focus more on "building structural solutions to the current migration phenomenon." She referred to projects for cooperation between the European Union and transit countries, citing the recent agreement with Tunisia as one of the structural solutions.
In July, the EU and Tunisia signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a "strategic and comprehensive partnership," in which the EU will provide conditional economic assistance to Tunisia and Tunisia agrees to cooperate with the EU to crack down on illegal immigration and strengthen border controls to curb the simmering tide of smuggling, Xinhua reported.
Last week, German President Frank-Steinmeier and Italian President Mattarella visited Sicily, Italy, in an attempt to ease relations. The two focused on improving the chaos in Libya, one of the main starting points for human smuggling.
On September 21, 2023, local time, Italy, German President Franklin Steinmeier (second from left) and Italian President Mattarella inspected areas affected by forest fires by helicopter. Photo/Visual China
Steinmeier also said that both Germany and Italy are at the limit of their receiving capacity, and called on the EU to reach a new migration agreement that allows all member states to share the burden of receiving migrants more evenly. He called existing immigration rules, which were developed before the era of mass migration and other factors that accelerate migration, such as climate change, outdated.
Since 2015, receiving illegal immigrants from Middle Eastern countries such as Syria has become a growing rift within the European Union, Xinhua reported. Unable to agree on a sharing mechanism, EU countries have resorted to strict control over the number of arrivals, but it remains difficult to stop the influx of migrants into the EU in various ways.
According to data released by the European Border Agency, about 330,000 illegal migrants from regions such as the Middle East and North Africa in 2022, an increase of 64% from the previous year and the highest since 2016.
Since the beginning of this year, the problem of illegal immigration in Europe has intensified again. At the EU summit in February, EU leaders agreed to introduce stricter policies on illegal immigration, including increased surveillance of external borders. In June, the EU adopted what has been described as two historic proposals to control illegal immigration, which deal with the reception, distribution and repatriation of illegal migrants arriving in Europe.
Under the first proposal, EU member states could decide for themselves whether to accept refugees on the basis of an assessment of their capacity to receive refugees. If you are not willing to accept it, you can pay the EU at the rate of 20,000 euros per immigrant, and the EU will deal with illegal immigration.
Under the second proposal, the EU would allow member states to detain refugees outside their borders when processing asylum claims, so that they could be quickly repatriated if they denied an application. The processing period for asylum applications cannot exceed 6 months. Member States have the right to refuse asylum if they consider that the asylum-seeker may pose a threat to his or her safety or public order.
Although the two proposals were adopted, differences on migration remained within the EU. Of these, Poland and Hungary voted against, while Bulgaria, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia abstained.
On August 20, 2023, local time, in the Mediterranean waters of the Cape of Greco, Cyprus, the rescue operation of migrants is underway. Photo/Visual China
The intra-EU controversy over immigration has raised alarm. Joseph Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian that due to deep cultural differences between member states and the long-term inability to reach a common policy, the immigration issue may become "a force to break the EU."
"Migration is a bigger divide for the EU." Borrell said that although the EU has long established a common external border, it has not been able to agree on a common immigration policy until recently. He attributed this to deep cultural and political differences within the EU, saying some member states were reluctant to accept foreigners and others had a long history of accepting migrants.
"Paradoxically, Europe needs migrants because our population growth rate is too low. From a labor perspective, we need immigrants if we want to survive. Borrell said.
Beijing News reporter Xie Lian
Edited by Zhang Lei Proofread by Liu Jun