The Italian government has declared a state of emergency for the whole country due to the rapidly growing number of migrants arriving across the Mediterranean. The state of emergency lasts six months, during which five million euros have been allocated to set up new reception centres, reports the ANSA news agency.
In the last three days alone, more than 3,000 migrants have landed in Italy, of which around 2,000 on the island of Lampedusa. The Minister of the Sea and Civil Protection Nello Musumeci spoke of an “absolute emergency”. Government services are therefore under great pressure “because we are talking about people who have rights and towards whom we must assume responsibility”.
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The provision should allow Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government to send people who cannot stay in Italy more quickly to their countries of origin. The government has promised to curb mass immigration, but more than 31,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, up from around 8,000 in the same period last year.
The state of emergency should facilitate procedures, but it doesn’t solve the problem, according to the minister. This requires decisive action by the European Union, he stressed. Italy is trying to persuade other member states to take in the migrants, but talks in Brussels have been stalled for some time.
Source: BNR
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