Italy, Germany signal tougher EU stance on migrants

AFP, MARANELLO, Italy: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Wednesday to step up efforts to send migrants with no right to asylum in Europe back to their homelands. “All of us in Europe must work for the repatriation of those who do not have rights (to stay),” Renzi said after a meeting with Merkel in the home of the Ferrari sports car empire. “It is unthinkable that we can accommodate everyone.” In comments pointing to a hardening of attitudes about how to resolve the migrant crisis reshaping politics across Europe, Merkel added: “Not everyone can stay, and Italy has the same problem, so we have a common agenda.
“Those who do not have the right to stay have to be repatriated,” she said.
The German leader was speaking a year to the day after she after she won praise and criticism in equal measure for signalling an open door policy on refugees by declaring “we can do this” in relation to people fleeing the conflict in Syria. She said Wednesday that she stood by the expression.
“I’m convinced it was the right phrase,” she said, striking a less contrite tone than she had adopted in an interview with German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that was published on Wednesday. “There are political issues that one can see coming but don’t really register with people at that certain moment,” Merkel was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “And in Germany, we ignored both the problem for too long and blocked out the need to find a pan-European solution.”
Earlier, three corpses were recovered as some 1,800 migrants were rescued off Libya on Wednesday, taking the total number of people saved since Sunday to nearly 12,500, Italy’s coastguard said. The three dead bodies were recovered from a stricken rubber dinghy by Malta-based NGO MOAS, whose boat the Phoenix rescued a total of 410 people during the day. Italian navy and coastguard boats were also in action along with a merchant tugboat that happened to be in the area. Despite the surge in numbers this week, migrant arrivals in Italy are running slightly below last year’s levels.
According to Interior Ministry figures, a total of 112,097 people had landed at Italian ports by Wednesday morning, compared with 116,149 for the same period in 2015. Thousands more will be registered in the coming days, putting more pressure on Italy’s already rammed reception centres. Among those arriving on Wednesday was a three-month-old Nigerian baby girl who was born in Libya and baptised Noa Mary on an Italian navy boat on Tuesday. Rear Admiral Alberto Maffeis, who acted as the little girl’s godfather on board the Virginio Fasan frigate, told RaiNews her mother had asked the onboard chaplain to carry out the ceremony. “It was like becoming a father again, I had a lump in my throat,” he said.
Flavio di Giacomo, the Italy spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), said that despite this week’s high numbers, the profile of departures from Libya remained similar to last year with regular spikes in numbers attributable to favourable weather conditions. “What is astonishing is that there have been so few casualties thanks to the expertise of the rescuers,” he said. Di Giacomo said the new arrivals were manageable. “There is not a a critical situation on the Italian side, the system of reception and identification is working smoothly.” Italy is however having to house ever greater numbers of would-be refugees as its neighbours to the north move to tighten their borders and make it harder for migrants to travel to their preferred destinations in northern Europe.

 

Italy, Germany signal tougher EU stance on migrants

AFP, MARANELLO, Italy: Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed Wednesday to step up efforts to send migrants with no right to asylum in Europe back to their homelands. All of us in Europe must work for the repatriation of those who do not have rights (to stay), Renzi said after a meeting with Merkel in the home of the Ferrari sports car empire. It is unthinkable that we can accommodate everyone. In comments pointing to a hardening of attitudes about how to resolve the migrant crisis reshaping politics across Europe, Merkel added: Not everyone can stay, and Italy has the same problem, so we have a common agenda. Those who do not have the right to stay have to be repatriated, she said. The German leader was speaking a year to the day after she after she won praise and criticism in equal measure for signalling an open door policy on refugees by declaring we can do this in relation to people fleeing the conflict in Syria. She said Wednesday that she stood by the expression. Im convinced it was the right phrase, she said, striking a less contrite tone than she had adopted in an interview with German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that was published on Wednesday. There are political issues that one can see coming but dont really register with people at that certain moment, Merkel was quoted as saying by the newspaper. And in Germany, we ignored both the problem for too long and blocked out the need to find a pan-European solution. Earlier, three corpses were recovered as some 1,800 migrants were rescued off Libya on Wednesday, taking the total number of people saved since Sunday to nearly 12,500, Italys coastguard said. The three dead bodies were recovered from a stricken rubber dinghy by Malta-based NGO MOAS, whose boat the Phoenix rescued a total of 410 people during the day. Italian navy and coastguard boats were also in action along with a merchant tugboat that happened to be in the area. Despite the surge in numbers this week, migrant arrivals in Italy are running slightly below last years levels. According to Interior Ministry figures, a total of 112,097 people had landed at Italian ports by Wednesday morning, compared with 116,149 for the same period in 2015. Thousands more will be registered in the coming days, putting more pressure on Italys already rammed reception centres. Among those arriving on Wednesday was a three-month-old Nigerian baby girl who was born in Libya and baptised Noa Mary on an Italian navy boat on Tuesday. Rear Admiral Alberto Maffeis, who acted as the little girls godfather on board the Virginio Fasan frigate, told RaiNews her mother had asked the onboard chaplain to carry out the ceremony. It was like becoming a father again, I had a lump in my throat, he said. Flavio di Giacomo, the Italy spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), said that despite this weeks high numbers, the profile of departures from Libya remained similar to last year with regular spikes in numbers attributable to favourable weather conditions. What is astonishing is that there have been so few casualties thanks to the expertise of the rescuers, he said. Di Giacomo said the new arrivals were manageable. There is not a a critical situation on the Italian side, the system of reception and identification is working smoothly. Italy is however having to house ever greater numbers of would-be refugees as its neighbours to the north move to tighten their borders and make it harder for migrants to travel to their preferred destinations in northern Europe.