(by the correspondent Fabrizio Finzi)
“Prehistoric Norms”. Sergio Mattarella could not have been clearer in asking the European Union for a kidney boost to deal with the immigration emergency in a coordinated manner. He did it from Warsaw, a country like Italy grappling with waves of illegal entries that worry the government and frighten public opinion. Like those that Belarus cyclically pours into Polish territory. The President of the Republic, in his appeal to the 27, refers in particular to the famous Dublin Treaty which regulates the so-called “first reception”. A legislative dinosaur no longer in step with the times: just remember that it was even conceived at the end of the 80s when the proportions of these mass migrations were not even conceivable. For some time the head of state has been spending time on a reform of the treaty but today in Warsaw he found a complete consonance of views that prompted him to raise his tone: “what is happening on the front of migratory flows, with the large turnout not only in Italy, it requires that the problem be tackled together, as a problem of the European Union because the EU can do it with coordinated action. We need a new asylum policy to overcome old rules that are now prehistoric”, he articulated after a very long conversation with Polish President Duda. Who, in turn, had anticipated the meaning of the conversation: “Italy is making a huge effort on migration and we too have this problem. We expect greater support, greater understanding from the European Commission and more decisive initiatives from the EU”, he said, speaking of full agreement with the Italian positions. Words, those of Mattarella, which, although in line with his thoughts, today make the center-right rejoice, which in Parliament is launching tough measures that go towards the abolition of the instrument of “special protection”. I hope that between Brussels, Berlin and Paris we will move from words to deeds”, replied Matteo Salvini to those who asked him for a comment on the president’s words. The group leader of the Brothers of Italy in the Chamber Tommaso Foti was much more explicit: ” what will the Pd and the whole left say now, now that the head of state has rightly pointed out, within the scope of his prerogatives, this serious problem? war in Ukraine and the need not to weaken the military commitment of the West right now.And also on this issue Mattarella has dictated the line using unequivocal concepts that bring out all the indignation of the president after the latest images and news of the cruelty in progress in neighboring Ukraine: “We are horrified by some inhuman behaviors that are used in the war by the Russian armed forces, hitting civilian targets and infrastructures, in a way that makes the aggression even more cruel”, he said, evoking bloody acts such as cutting of the heads of the prisoners and the rumors that indicate that the Wagner brigade also had children killed. Wagner’s semi-private militias are also extremely dangerous on the African continent, adds the president, explaining how many “destabilizing initiatives” have been carried out in Africa, starting from Sudan but not only. So the thread between migrants, the war in Ukraine and Russia is dangerously linked: this is why there is a need today more than ever for “great European cohesion”. This is why Italy “will continue to support Ukraine from every point of view”, starting from the military one, “against any imperialist impulse resulting from nationalistic exasperations”.
The political controversy on migrants continues, with Schifani speaking of a “Sicily submerged by landings”, while in the Senate the Constitutional Affairs commission has resumed the vote on the amendments to the Cutro decree, a provision that is expected in the Chamber tomorrow afternoon. The Commission started with the amendments to article 4, while the decree is made up of 11 articles.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament has said yes to the debate on the issue of migrants by accepting a modification proposed by the S&D and Green groups who obtained the modification of the title of the request for debate in the Chamber made by the EPP on the issue of migrants, proposing that the discussion should not concern the Italian emergency but the “need for a European solution to the migration crisis to facilitate the saving of lives, especially in Italy”. The EPP request was therefore rejected by the EP plenary while the modification proposed by the Socialists and the Greens passed with 252 votes in favor, 119 against and 13 abstentions.
Salvini: “On migrants, the majority is cohesive”
“I hope so because Italy is left alone”. Thus Minister Matteo Salvini in Siena replied to journalists who asked him for a comment on the president’s request Sergio Mattarella the EU to overcome “prehistoric norms” in terms of reception. “Some selfishness leaves Italy totally alone and we cannot face a huge phenomenon like this alone. I hope that between Brussels, Berlin and Paris we will pass from words to deeds”, added Salvini on a visit to an Anas work. “Italian borders are European borders, Italy cannot alone take charge of half the world, it is evident”.
Migrants, Mattarella: ‘The EU should go beyond prehistoric norms’
“We are working in total agreement with the majority, welcoming those fleeing the war is sacrosanct, fighting the smugglers, traffickers and criminals is equally fundamental to saving lives. The numbers show that the special protection invented by the Giallorossi government does not work”. This was stated by the Minister of Infrastructure and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini today in Pisa. “The no of the left-wing regions to the state of emergency and to the CPR – he added – is not a disturbance to Salvini: if there is no center for the repatriation of illegal immigrants in Tuscany how can I keep them pending expulsion. So I hope that the regions led by the left do the interests of their citizens and not just ideological battles”.
Piantedosi defends the state of emergency: “it serves to manage arrivals”.
“The state of emergency has also been used for Ukrainian refugees to have tools for managing the phenomenon suited to the strong impact of concentrated arrivals of people. If 6,000 arrive in one weekend, I challenge anyone with ordinary tools to find adequate accommodation “. This was stated by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi speaking at a conference organized by the Coisp police union, adding that “the emergency is not a qualification of the phenomenon but it is a technical tool for adequate management of reception”. On the special protection “I am convinced that parliamentary work will be able to find the right balance between compliance with humanitarian and constitutional obligations, but at the same time without debasing the high value of a legal institution, transforming it into a surreptitious mechanism for avoiding access to residence in the national territory”. This was stated by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi speaking at a conference organized by the police union Coisp.
Meanwhile this morning Peluso ship arrived in the port of Catania with on board 201 of the approximately 600 migrants rescued yesterday by the Coast Guard in Maltese Sar waters 170 miles south of the coast of Sicily. Another 111 had already arrived in the Etna capital yesterday evening transported by a Romanian ship belonging to the Frontex device.
After the landing they were transferred to the structure built in the former vaccination hub of San Giuseppe La Rena, where the other 201 who arrived with the Coast Guard ship will also be temporarily transferred.
Another 299 rescued migrants arrived last night, on the Libeccio ship of the Navy, in Augusta, in the Syracuse area. After disembarking, they were transferred to the tensile structure in the commercial port.
Also in Augusta, in the late morning the Geo Barentsthe Médecins Sans Frontières search and rescue vessel, has left port, bound for the central Mediterranean.
Schifani: “Sicily submerged by the landings of migrants”
“The emergency exists, we have been living it in Sicily for a month already, since we were ‘submerged’ by landings. Thousands of people have invaded the Lampedusa hotspot which can only accommodate a few hundred migrants. The Region has made its part and gave a hand, we managed to get blankets, shoes, food in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior”. This was stated by the president of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifani, on the issue of migrants on Tgcom24. “The reception of basic necessities is sacred, but a concrete policy is needed to manage these arrivals. We are tired of hearing statements that can be shared on a purely theoretical level but far from any concrete feasibility. We must act, we are at the point of no return,” stressed Schifani.
Sala: “Unsustainable numbers on unaccompanied foreign minors”
“We mayors ask the government to rethink the whole system a bit because it is not by deluding people that the issue can be resolved through the elimination of some institutions. We ask to be heard, if we had the solution in hand we would propose it but we live the reality and we know what we are dealing with”. This was explained by the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, on Sky Tg24, where he spoke of the opposition of the mayors of the Democratic Party to the government’s decision to cancel the special protection for migrants. In Milan “we have the specific problem that we underline, namely that of unaccompanied foreign minors. We have unsustainable numbers today and we are asking for help on this too – he concluded -. They have exploded in recent months because there are desperate families on boats who entrust their children to relatives and friends and when they get here it’s a problem”.
Weber: “Italy must be thanked and helped”
“Concrete measures of solidarity towards Italy by the other EU countries are needed on migration. This is why the EPP group asked this week for a special debate in the EU Parliament to seek solidarity towards Italy”. So in an interview with Corriere della Sera the president and group leader in the EU Parliament of the EPP Manfred Weber.
Lepore: “Without hospitality we will have tent cities”
“If you remove the widespread reception system, decree a state of emergency and choose a commissioner, this opens the door to requisitioning soccer fields or former barracks for tent cities. Cutro’s bodies weren’t enough to stop the propaganda of the League”. So the mayor of Bologna Matteo Lepore told Repubblica.
Bonaccini: “Meloni was screaming before, now he’s without a compass”
“It is time for everyone to assume their responsibilities. If the government thinks of abandoning the ordinary way of welcoming, the widespread one, so to speak, to build large structures, then come and discuss it. If we had managed the reception of Ukrainian refugees like this , the situation would have exploded”. Thus, on the policies on migrants, the president of the Emilia-Romagna Region Stefano Bonaccini to the Press.
Source: Ansa
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