The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, announced this Tuesday (4) that his government managed to reduce the arrivals of illegal migrants by 60% in 2024 compared to the same period last year.
“The whole-of-government commitment has allowed us to reduce illegal arrivals by 60% compared to the same period last year,” she said in a briefing to the Council of Ministers.
According to Meloni, this result was “possible mainly thanks to collaborative relations with North African countries, led by Tunisia and Libya”.
The Italian Prime Minister explained that "a very recent breakthrough consists of the work aimed at establishing a Tunisian SAR area" and "tomorrow the Italian-Tunisian joint working group will meet in Rome to assist the maritime authorities in drawing up a relevant plan."
“The common perspective is to formalize the existence of a maritime area that provides for the intervention of Tunisian ships to carry out rescue work and bring migrants back to the safest port nearby, that is, in Tunisia,” he added.
Meloni also highlighted that, after the formation of the government, it was necessary to quickly define regular entry flows into Italy. Subsequently, a decree was issued implementing the programming for the 2023-2025 triennium and a “technical table to monitor its application” was established.
According to her, “now, alarming data is emerging from this monitoring.” “In some regions, especially Campania, we have registered a series of requests for work permits for non-EU citizens, which are completely disproportionate to the number of potential employers, whether individuals or companies.”
Furthermore, he highlighted that he went to the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor, Giovanni Melillo, to deliver a complaint about the flows of foreign workers who entered Italy in recent years, using the so-called “Flow Decrees”.
For her, “regular flows of immigrants for work reasons are used as another channel for irregular immigration”.
The statements come one day after Meloni traveled to Albania to visit the areas where two identification and expulsion centers will be created to which Italy will send migrants who arrive on its territory.
The initiative is part of an agreement signed with his Albanian counterpart, Edi Rama, a few days before the European elections, and envisages the construction of two identification and reception centers for immigrants rescued in the Mediterranean, with a maximum capacity of 3 people per month, or 36 thousand per year.
The objective is that in these centers — funded by Italy — asylum requests are processed and that those who are denied this status are also repatriated from there, which would reduce the number of immigrants in Italian territory. (Ansa Brasil)
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