Germany suspends receiving migrants from Italy until further notice

Germany announced on Wednesday that it has suspended, "until further notice," the voluntary reception of asylum seekers coming from Italy as stipulated in European agreements due to "significant migration pressure," and Rome's refusal to implement the same agreements.

A spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the German government informed Rome of its decision "at the end of August."

This decision, "until further notice," concerns the "voluntary European solidarity mechanism" that regulates the transfer of asylum seekers from the country of arrival in the European Union to other member states to alleviate the burden on countries such as Italy or Greece, which are entry points for migrants into Europe.

Berlin justified this decision by citing the "current significant migration pressure on Germany" and the "ongoing suspension of transfer operations from some member states," including Italy, which "reinforces the major challenges facing Germany in terms of reception and accommodation capacity."

The controversial Dublin Regulation stipulates that the country of arrival of the migrant in the European Union is responsible for handling their asylum request.

According to the German newspaper Die Welt, Italy, under the leadership of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has been the leader of the far-right Fratelli d'Italia party since October 2022, no longer accepts asylum seekers whom other countries want to transfer to it. 

She informed her partners of this decision in December 2022, stating that Italy could no longer accommodate more.

Maximilian Kall, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, confirmed during a press conference that "out of more than 12,400 requests for support submitted to Italy this year until the end of August, 10 transfers have been carried out so far."

Under the voluntary relocation mechanism, Germany has accepted 1,700 asylum seekers who arrived in southern Europe out of 3,500 that it pledged to receive.

This issue has become highly sensitive in Germany against the backdrop of the rise of the far-right in opinion polls and an increase in illegal immigration in recent months.

The spokesperson for the Interior Ministry stated, "We are currently facing an extremely tense situation in many areas in Germany."


AFP