Italy must resume readmissions under Dublin - Germany

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 22 - Berlin on Friday reiterated that Italy needs to resume taking back asylum seekers from Germany under the terms of the Dublin Regulation if it wants Germany to resume relocations under the European voluntary solidarity mechanism.
    "Italy is not respecting readmissions under the Dublin system, and until it does, we will not accept any more refugees" from Italy through the solidarity mechanism, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told Zdf broadcast.
    Now Berlin is waiting for Rome to "meet us again halfway" in the fulfillment of its "obligations", Faeser said.
    The Dublin Regulation, dating to 2013, establishes that asylum claims must be handled by the EU country of first entry unless decided otherwise, and that this country must readmit asylum seekers found lodging claims elsewhere.
    Separately, in 2022 a voluntary solidarity mechanism was agreed at European level for the redistribution of asylum seekers in support of front-line countries such as Italy that receive the vast majority of arrivals, especially by sea.
    Photo: German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. (ANSA).