Failure to deal with immigration – the clash between Germany and Italy

EU member states failed to agree in Brussels on changes to migration systems after a row between Germany and Italy over key proposals on human rights guarantees in detention centers and the role of non-governmental organizations in facilitating migrant arrivals.

Hopes were dashed today as interior ministers said they expected a settlement in the coming days that would lead to an agreement that could be implemented in the event of a sudden refugee crisis like the one in 2015, when more than a million people arrived from Syria and beyond.

This year, the 27 countries agreed to the first set of changes, which will allow migrants to be transported across Europe and impose fines of 20,000 euros on countries that refuse to accept their quota.

In the Home Affairs Council, the discussion addressed the rules that apply when a migrant first arrives at the EU’s external borders. As Brussels noted, this occurred amid an increase in arrivals to Italy from Tunisia as well as an increase in arrivals to the Greek islands of Samos and the Greek islands of Virginia. Lesvos.

The meeting began with faint optimism after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said from Berlin that he would not hinder an agreement. But during the day it was revealed that Rome did not want to support the amended text and the bill was not put to a vote.

The dispute is said to center on two issues. Sources say Germany has opposed a new clause, supported by Italy, that would allow violations of minimum standards in detention centers in exceptional cases.

According to the information, it was understood that the neighbor’s far-right government also opposed a clause, supported by Berlin, regarding migrants helped by non-governmental organizations to reach one of the Union countries.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that despite the setback, member states were “very close” to reaching an agreement, while sources confirmed that an agreement was likely to be reached before a summit of European leaders in Spain next week. He said, “There is a very large majority of member states that agree (…) We can be optimistic that there are some details that need to be coordinated and we hope that in the coming days we will be able to announce a general approach regarding the issue.” Organizing the crisis,” he said.

The changes aim to clarify asylum procedures, rules for screening and registration procedures at the border, and create a resettlement or “solidarity” package to exempt host countries such as Italy and Greece from full responsibility. “If we do not complete this work, we will continue to see death and misery in the Mediterranean,” German Interior Minister Nancy Visser said.

European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said the EU had received more than 250,000 “irregular arrivals” so far this year, an increase in numbers seen mainly from Italy and the island of Lampedusa. But he added that the E.U. It had 600,000 asylum applications at the same time. “This shows that the challenge facing us is much greater than preventing irregular arrivals,” he said.

Finally, the Interior Ministers agreed to extend temporary protection for approximately 4 million Ukrainian refugees residing in Europe until March 2025.

Meanwhile, Italian Interior Minister Matteo Biandidozzi held a bilateral meeting with his Tunisian counterpart, Kamal Fekish, in Palermo, and the conversation revolved around immigration. The first expressed his “satisfaction with the intensification of the efforts made by Tunisia to prevent departure and the security operations that led, in recent hours, to the arrest of 124 human traffickers.”

Italy reiterated the need to approve a European project aimed at supporting the voluntary return of what it described as irregular migrants from Tunisia to their countries of origin.