EU: Italy imposes conditions to accept migrants rescued at sea

Brussels – The EU faces a serious problem with Italy's decision to link the landing at its ports of migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to a sharing of their care with other Member States, at risk to jeopardize European rescue operations at sea.
  

" Italy no longer wants to be the only landing country for migrants rescued at sea by the naval units of Operation Sophia ," Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said in a letter to the head of EU diplomacy Federica Mogherini.

The implications of this decision were discussed in Brussels on Friday by the ambbadadors of the member states, and a large number of countries have indicated to the representative of Italy their dissatisfaction with a form of blackmail, told AFP several European sources.

Italy orders the European military operation Sophia launched in June 2015 following a series of deadly shipwrecks.

" Operation Sophia is maintained and continues ," AFP told AFP on Friday night that three European sources were involved in the case.

" The Member States have given themselves five weeks, until the end of August, to find a solution at the request of Italy to no longer be the country where they are landed. migrants on board the ships of the operation ", they explained.

" The solution will be difficult to find because it asks the questions: + What to do with the survivors, where to disembark, who will take care of them? ," said a diplomatic source. The risk is that the states engaged in Sophia no longer make boats available for the operation, according to her.

Six EU country vessels – Italy, France, Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Germany – are currently engaged in this mission to combat human trafficking and avoid shipwrecks between Italy and the coasts of Libya.

Sophia has helped rescue nearly 44,000 people at sea since its launch in 2015, accounting for 10% of rescues over the past three years, its commander, Italian admiral Enrico Credentino, said in July.

– Close the ports of Italy –

But the Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini, boss of the far-right movement the League, is determined to close the Italian ports to the ships of the rescue missions after the have banned boats chartered by NGOs.

Italy has officially asked to no longer be the only landing country identified in the mandate of Operation Sophia that ends at the end of the year.

And Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte informed European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker of the conditions now imposed for the landings in Italy of migrants rescued at sea.

Landings in Italy will only be allowed the only condition that other countries in the European Union have agreed to take over some of the people rescued at sea, said Mr Conte in a letter to Mr Juncker.

The Italian populist government wants to force the hand of its European partners and in fact imposes on them the conditions already imposed for the landing of some 450 migrants badisted at sea and transhipped in two military ships.

The ships were able to land in Sicily during the weekend of 14 and 15 July after the commitment by France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Malta to each take charge of about fifty survivors.

– Libya says no –

In response to Mr. Conte, in a missive which AFP obtained a copy of, Mr. Juncker explained that " these ad hoc solutions could not be sustainable on the long-term ".

The head of the Commission, however, agreed to continue his mediation to find volunteers for sharing in case of emergency, until a definitive solution is found for the care of migrants collected in Wed.

Crossings from the coast of North Africa to Italy have been considerably reduced and a new route to Spain is being used for crossings.

At the last European summit in late June in Brussels, the leaders of the 28 had agreed to consider " regional landing platforms " in third countries for migrants rescued in international waters.

The Libyan authorities said on Friday " absolutely against the fact that Europe wants to officially install at home illegal migrants we do not want in the EU ". Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco have also refused such centers.

EU leaders also referred to the creation of " controlled centers " on the EU territory to transfer people rescued at sea.

Commission to present " next week "concepts for these controlled centers in the EU and in third countries, said Friday Natasha Bertaud, spokesman responsible for migration.