The Italian government has adopted a package of measures to tackle migration across the Mediterranean. For example, the country wants to be able to detain migrants longer when it has been decided that they will be deported from the country.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said ahead of Monday’s cabinet meeting that the detention period would be six months, but could be extended to 18 months. Under Italian law, migrants can be detained if it has been decided that they are not allowed to stay and it is not immediately possible to deport them. Efforts to detain migrants often failed. Imprisoned migrants have repeatedly managed to escape from detention centers and move to other European countries.
Another measure calls for more detention centers in remote areas to prevent “further inconvenience and insecurity in Italian cities,” Meloni said.
The tightened package comes after almost 10,000 migrants reached the Italian island of Lampedusa last week. This was a blow to right-wing Prime Minister Meloni, who promised to curb illegal migration. On Sunday she visited the island together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The committee chairman called on other EU countries to take in some of the migrants arriving in Italy.
Nearly 130,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, almost double compared to the same period last year, according to government data.
The measures have drawn criticism from the opposition and rights groups. For example, the Italian Coalition for Civil Rights and Freedoms called the detention centers “black holes”, where serious violations of fundamental rights take place.
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