On Friday, France accused Italy of not respecting the law of the sea as European Union interior ministers held emergency talks to discuss concerns about a surge in the number of asylum seekers arriving via the western Balkans.
The meeting, which is taking place in Brussels at the request of Paris, follows the recent crisis with Rome over the Ocean Viking humanitarian ship and the 234 migrants on board. The ship finally docked in France on November 11 “by way of exception” after the far-right Italian government led by Georgia Meloni refused to accept it.
These tensions have rekindled a very heated debate about EU solidarity on migration issues, while the reform launched by the European Commission two years ago has stalled.
In response to Italy’s position, which Paris deemed “unacceptable”, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanan announced a suspension of France’s admission of 3,500 asylum seekers to Italy. Meloni considered this decision “unreasonable” and recalled that her country received about ninety thousand immigrants this year, while about 12 European countries pledged to take eight thousand people and take care of them, but in the end accepted 117 people.
Plans for the “redistribution” of migrants are planned within the framework of the temporary European solidarity mechanism approved in June, which was proposed by Paris itself during its presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Darmanin stated upon arriving in Brussels to attend the meeting that France had no reason to accept immigrants redistributed from Italy if Rome “does not accept boats and does not accept the law of the sea”.
In an attempt to activate this mechanism, the European Commission presented last Monday an action plan to accelerate the mechanism for the transfer of refugees.
The plan also aims to improve cooperation on maritime rescue between Member States and with non-governmental organizations operating humanitarian vessels, as well as to “facilitate discussion within the International Maritime Organization” of “guidelines for such vessels performing maritime rescue operations.”
“Our desire is to restart this mechanism, because it is the only mechanism that allows us to share the burden across Europe and force entry countries such as Italy to set the borders we need and register all foreigners arriving in the European region. Now the situation is not like that,” Darmanan added.
The Minister stressed that “the countries of the southern Mediterranean should also open their ports” to rescue ships for migrants “floating in their territorial waters.”
The plan aims to increase cooperation with countries of origin and countries of transit, especially Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, to curb migration and increase the deportation of illegal migrants.
Paris believes that the goal is also to “better organize the work of NGOs.”
Italy, as well as Greece, Malta and Cyprus, criticize humanitarian organizations that “run their own courts with complete independence from the relevant authorities.”
Germany, for its part, refuses to impose restrictions on the operation of these ships carrying out rescue operations at sea.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi recalled that “nearly 2,000 people have died or are missing” in the Mediterranean since the start of the year, stressing “the vital importance of rescue at sea by all involved”.
But some member states, such as the Czech Republic, which currently holds the European Union presidency, are concerned about a different migration route through the Western Balkans. Around 130,000 people have been registered on this route illegally entering the European Union since the beginning of the year, according to data from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex, a 160% increase.
More than half of illegal immigrants arriving in the EU take this route, Czech Minister Vet Rakosan said on Thursday after meeting in Prague with his Austrian, Hungarian and Slovak counterparts ahead of a meeting in Brussels.
For his part, Greek Interior Minister Notis Mitarachi complained that Turkey is not complying with the 2016 Migration Agreement, which specifically provides for the return of immigrants who are not eligible for asylum. He also considered the voluntary solidarity mechanism “insufficient”, calling for a “coercive” solution.