Several European countries on Thursday asked Italy to respect the Dublin regulation by taking back asylum seekers registered on its soil and who then move within the European Union.
The government of far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on December 5 a "temporary suspension" of Dublin transfers, i.e. deportations to Italy of asylum seekers who have entered the EU via this Mediterranean country.
Rome puts forward "purely technical reasons" linked to the saturation of its reception centers.
"We can clearly see that the Dublin regulation is now very complex, it hardly works anymore with certain countries, notably Italy", declared French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, specifying that he had had "the opportunity to say so" recently to his counterpart Matteo Piantedosi in Paris.
"Even before the Ocean Viking crisis that we had with Italy (last November, editor's note), Italy was taking back one in ten people," he added during a meeting of ministers. of the Interior on Thursday in Brussels. "And so we obviously have to improve this subject".
The French minister welcomed a "very positive exchange" with his Italian counterpart, with whom he plans to go to the Franco-Italian border "in the coming weeks to continue this discussion".
“Many European countries want everyone to play their part, and Italy to play it too,” said the Swiss Federal Councilor in charge of Justice and the Police, Elisabeth Baume-Schneider. Switzerland is not a member of the EU but it is associated with the Dublin regulation.
"I am not the only one to say that we must dialogue with Italy and ask Italy to honor the pact with regard to Dublin," she insisted.
Germany has also, through its minister Nancy Faeser, questioned "states that do not want to readmit" asylum seekers. "I will strive to ensure that states are aware of their responsibility. It is the law, they are obliged to readmit. I will reiterate this very strongly today," she said.
France, Germany and Switzerland are signatories, with the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Austria, of a joint press release expressing the concern of the so-called "secondary movement" countries, i.e. say the movement of asylum seekers within the EU.
These countries call for "respect for existing rules", while "reaffirming their commitment to rapid progress in the ongoing negotiations to reform the Dublin system".
The Dublin regulation provides that the countries of first arrival of migrants are responsible for processing their asylum application, which the Mediterranean countries denounce as a disproportionate burden.
09/03/2023 15:00:51 - Bruxelles (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
