By Athena Papakosta

A week passed during which nearly 8,500 people arrived in just three days on the Italian island of Lampedusa, which lies between northern Africa and Sicily. Within the same week an infant born during the crossing of the Mediterranean died during the journey in the boat that started, with a total of 40 migrants, from Tunisia. He was buried in a small white casket at the island’s cemetery on Saturday. A few days earlier, another five-month-old infant drowned during a rescue operation when a ship carrying 426 migrants capsized.

In the reception center of the island, with a capacity of only 400 people, images of despair follow one another. People are sleeping on the street among the garbage with others trying to escape by jumping the fence.

By this weekend most had been moved to centers mainly in Sicily and the hotspot of the ongoing Mediterranean drama had been cleared to welcome European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen who held an “autopsy” in Lampedusa in response to her prime minister’s invitation. of Italy, Georgia Meloni.

Georgia Meloni’s far-right government was elected in October 2022 on a promise to curb increased immigration flows by adopting a tougher line on immigration.

Within a year, however, more than 127,000 people had reached Italian shores. This is more than double the number from the same period in 2022.

Most of them start their journey from Tunisia despite the Memorandum of Cooperation between Tunis and Brussels that even covers economic cooperation issues with an initial allocation of 105 million euros.

Now Italy is pushing for a solution and taking action. Georgia Meloni, weighing the political costs of her administration, announced that she is proceeding to increase the duration of the temporary detention of illegal immigrants in closed centers while simultaneously increasing their number.

At the same time, the Italian Prime Minister emphasizes that “Member States must cooperate to stop the departures” of seafarers from Africa. He also calls for “the immediate deportation of those whose asylum application was rejected” as, as he says, “they pose a threat to the future of Europe” and explains that “the matter will not be solved by talking only about the redistribution of immigrants”.

For her part, the president of the Commission insists that the issue requires a European response and solution, but she takes Meloni’s side once again. In more detail, Ursula von der Leyen presented a 10-point plan promising the immediate deportation of those who have not received asylum as well as the fight against traffickers.

“We will decide who and under what conditions will come to the European Union. No, the traffickers”, he underlined, while he was in favor of exploring possibilities for the expansion of “the naval missions” requested by Meloni, adding that “if necessary, the possibility of creating others will be considered”.

At the same time, tensions were recorded between Italy and the other “powerful” Member States of the Union who accuse Rome of not complying with the obligations arising from the Dublin Regulation.

In particular, Germany suspended the implementation of the agreement on the voluntary reception of refugees which concerns the relocation of asylum seekers from their countries of arrival in the EU to other Member States. It was preceded by the refusal of the Italian government to accept the return of migrants who sought asylum for the first time on Italian soil, but then went to Germany. The issue ended after the intervention of the President of the Commission and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. In the meantime, France also announced the strengthening of controls at its borders, with Meloni herself talking to Emmanuel Macron by phone and he, in turn, finally highlighting the obligation of European solidarity towards Italy.