Italy on right track on repatriations, Libya - Frontex

(ANSA) - Rome, February 20 - Italy is on the right track on migrant repatriations and Libya, Frontex chief Patrice Leggeri told ANSA Tuesday. "Italy, over the last year, has been one of the member States which has increased its activity of repatriation, both in terms of decisions and of operations," Leggeri told ANSA in an interview.
    The country is moving "in the right direction to reinforce this policy," he said.
    "My concerns about a drop in decisions on repatriations do not regard Italy," he said, citing the Minniti law positively.
    Italy's work on migrants and Libya has been positive, Leggeri added.
    "Italy is working to use the resources allotted by the EU to find sustainable solutions for Libya" and the migrants held there, he said.
    "And for now it is going in the right direction, even though the conditions of the centres in Libya are not in line with our standards, and with basic humanitarian standards.
    "But that is not Italy's fault, all the international community and not only the EU can help".
    Interior Minister Marco Minniti earlier Tuesday said migration is "now under control", speaking to State broadcaster Rai1's 'Uno Mattina' program.
    Meanwhile European border agency Frontex said more could be done, while saying Italy was "on the right track" on repatriations and on Libya.
    "We have tried to govern the migration phenomenon which is now under control", the minister said, noting that arrivals had dropped for the eighth consecutive month. "In February, we have registered a 90% decrease on last February", Minniti noted, stressing however that the "situation in Africa is very delicate and Libya is in a condition of fragility".
    He added that respecting human rights is a "fundamental concern" for him.
    "We are trying to manage the migration phenomenon, keeping security and humanity together", he explained. "It is possible to intervene in Africa, ensuring that those who are fleeing war are not taken to Europe by smugglers but by governments and NGOs through humanitarian corridors like the ones we are organizing".
    The migrant situation in the central Mediterranean towards Italy "has improved and is under control" but it has "not been resolved," Leggeri said. Speaking to a press conference in Brussels, Leggeri said "arrivals have fallen dramatically since July and since the summer of 2017, and the downward trend is continuing". There were only 300 arrivals in the first two weeks of February, he said, "but now we have to look at sustainability" given the situation in Libya.
    In 2017 some 150,000 migrants were repatriated from the EU," but that is not enough, Leggeri told the press conference. "This gives the measure of what is feasible," he said. "I have expressed concern over the fall in decisions on repatriations in the EU, which were down on the previous year".
    He said "if there is a will to allocate greater resources and funding, the situation can be improved at the European level". Leggeri had been asked if is was possible to repatriate 500-600,000 irregular migrants now in Italy.