Germany plans to resume the voluntary reception of migrants from Italy due to the massive arrival of illegal immigrants on the island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stated this, Welt reports.
According to the minister, the voluntary admission procedure was suspended “because Italy did not want to take people back under the Dublin Regulation”.
“Now, of course, it is clear that we will fulfil our solidarity commitment,” Faeser added.
Earlier, Germany decided to no longer accept migrants from Italy under the voluntary solidarity pact due to the “high migration pressure” on the country.
At the same time, the situation with migrants is worsening on the Italian island of Lampedusa. The island’s authorities asked Rome and Brussels for help after thousands of migrants arrived.
More than 7,000 migrants, mainly from Tunisia and Libya, arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa between the evening of September 12 and the morning of September 13, La Croix reported.
The island’s administration is overwhelmed, and the Italian government has already organised the transfer of migrants to several towns in Sicily. This new influx of migrants has reignited the debate at the French and European levels.
Lampedusa is located 140-280 kilometres from the African coast, making it a popular destination for migrants travelling to Europe via the Mediterranean.
In mid-April, Italy declared a state of emergency due to a sharp increase in migrants arriving across the Mediterranean.
According to the International Organisation for Migration project, about 3,800 people died on their way to Europe from northern Africa and the Middle East in 2022, the most since 2017.
