>>>ANSA/Govt OKs migrant package

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 18 - The Italian government on Monday approved a package of measures to address the migrant emergency amid an unprecedented upsurge of arrivals from North Africa, mainly on the southern island of Lampedusa.
    Among the new moves will be the extension of detention ahead of repatriations, new migrant pre-removal detention centres (CPRs) in 'low-impact' areas, and keeping a close eye on EU commitments especially regarding a landmark deal with Tunisia.
    Italy will "closely follow" the commitments on migrants made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on her visit to Lampedusa Sunday, and especially her pledge to free up cash for a landmark deal with Tunisia, Premier Giorgia Meloni reportedly said after the cabinet approved the migrant emergency package, according to sources at the meeting.
    Meloni had said alongside von der Leyen, whom she invited to Lampedusa to see the situation for herself, that the emergency had placed Italy under "unsustainable pressure.
    "The government will follow with great attention, step by step, the commitments that Europe has undertaken with Italy, starting with the commitment to quickly release the resources provided for in the Memorandum with Tunisia," she said.
    The memorandum signed by Meloni, von der Leyen and Dutch PM Mark Rutte with President Kais Saied in mid-July provides for a "strategic and comprehensive partnership" aimed at combatting irregular migration and boosting economic ties between the bloc and the North African country, which lies on a major route for migrants and refugees travelling to Europe.
    Von der Leyen also said there was the possibility of a fresh naval mission to curb migrant smugglers, in a 10-point plan she unveiled at Lampedusa.
    But any naval mission would necessarily fall far short of the "naval blockade" Meloni invoked before she became premier a year ago.
    Meloni stressed: "The presence of President von der Leyen in Lampedusa yesterday is very important also from a symbolic point of view.
    "The presence of Europe at the borders most exposed to mass illegal immigration underlines that those of Lampedusa are not only Italian borders but also European ones." Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost tip, lies closer to Tunisia than to Italy.
    Monday's package also extends the maximum length of time it is possible to detain migrants who are set to be repatriated because they are not eligible for asylum to 18 months.
    On Friday Meloni had said the maximum time that asylum seekers can be kept at reception centres would remain at 12 months.
    Meloni on Monday denied that the planned new pre-removal detention centres (CPRs) for migrants and asylum seekers who are not eligible to remain in Italy will create unease and insecurity in cities.
    "Today we will mandate the Defence Ministry to build facilities to detain illegal immigrants as quickly as possible," Meloni reportedly said during a cabinet meeting on the migrant emergency.
    "Years of pro-immigration policies have meant that there are very few places available in CPRs in Italy today," she continued.
    "The new CPRs that will be built must be in locations with very low population density and that are easy to fence off and to monitor. They will not create further malaise and insecurity in the cities," added Meloni.
    The provisions for the creation of new pre-removal detention facilities and to extend to 18 months the maximum length of time it is possible to detain migrants pending repatriation are to be included in a decree law containing measures benefitting southern regions, which was approved by the government last week but has not yet been published in the official gazzette.
    The ruling centre-right coalition shares a common vision on how to tackle the increase in migrants and refugees arriving in Italy from north Africa, Meloni reportedly told her cabinet.
    "I would like to express great satisfaction at the unity and great teamwork of the entire government in dealing with the immigration emergency and finding concrete solutions to the strong pressure exerted by the flows of irregular immigrants on our coasts," sources reported Meloni as saying.
    "It is the confirmation that, on these issues as on many others, the entire centre-right has the same vision and that everyone is working in the same direction, despite what some are trying to say," she added.
    Meloni said this sense of united purpose was less the case in some Italian and European leftwing circles, which she accused of "rowing against" the government's migration policies.
    Meloni accused EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell and parties of the Left in Italy and the rest of Europe of working against solutions to stop the arrival of large numbers of migrants.
    The reference to Borrell is linked to a letter he reportedly sent on September 7 to Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi criticising the adoption of the Memorandum of Understanding with Tunisia for cooperation in stemming the flow of migrants from the coast of the North African country.
    Meloni was highly instrumental in bringing about the agreement.
    "I am sorry to see some Italian and European political parties are rowing in the opposite direction and doing everything they can to dismantle the work that is being done because of ideological reasons or, worse still, political calculations," Meloni said, accoding to the sources.
    "I am referring to the letter of the High Representative for European Foreign Policy Borrell, to the appeals made by the European Socialists, and to the positions taken by various members of the Left (against the MOU).
    "All these actions go in the same direction, trying to argue that no North African country is a safe State with which it is possible to agree to stop departures or to repatriate illegal immigrants.
    "Basically, the European Left wants to make mass illegal immigration unavoidable'.
    Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said at the UN that the Tunisia deal must be respected since it was signed by the EC, and that Borrell's reservations may have been influenced by the EP Socialists' stance.
    He also said that the migrant situation was "not explosive, it has already exploded".
    The EC chief's 10-point plan includes a possible new EU naval mission in the Mediterranean, faster repatriations of people whose asylum claims have been rejected and humanitarian corridors for legal arrivals.
    "We will decide who arrives in Europe, not the traffickers," von der Leyen stressed Sunday.
    Here is her 10-point plan. 1. Reinforce the support to Italy by the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA) and the European Border and Coast Guard (Frontex) to manage the high number of migrants to ensure registration of arrivals, fingerprinting, debriefing and referral to the appropriate authorities. 2. Support the transfer of people out of Lampedusa, including to other Member States using the voluntary solidarity mechanism and with particular attention to unaccompanied minors and women. 3. Step up returns by undertaking a renewed, concerted outreach to the main countries of origin of the new arrivals, namely Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Burkina Faso so as to improve cooperation and facilitate readmission; and increase the support by Frontex, including as regards training and capacity building, to ensure the swift implementation of returns. 4. Support the prevention of departures by establishing operational partnerships on anti-smuggling with countries of origin and transit. This includes the possibility of a working arrangement between Tunisia and Frontex, and a coordination task force in Europol to focus on anti-smuggling along the route to Tunisia and onward to Lampedusa. 5. Step up border surveillance at sea and aerial surveillance including through Frontex, and explore options to expand naval missions in the Mediterranean.
    Furthermore, we will speed up supply of equipment and increase training for the Tunisian coast guards and other law enforcement authorities. 6. Take measures to limit the use of unseaworthy vessels and take action against the supply chains and logistics of smugglers; and ensure the disabling of recuperated boats and dinghies. 7. Increase support by the EUAA to apply swift border and accelerated procedures, including the use of the safe country of origin concept, rejecting applications as manifestly unfounded, issuing entry bans and recording them in the Schengen Information System (SIS). 8. Increase awareness and communication campaigns to disincentivise the Mediterranean crossings, while continue working to offer alternatives such as humanitarian admission and legal pathways. 9. Step up cooperation with UNHCR and IOM to adopt a comprehensive route-based approach to ensure protection along the route and to increase assisted voluntary return from countries of transit.
    10. Implement the EU-TU Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and prioritise actions with immediate impact to address the current situation and accelerate the contracting of new projects under the MoU. (ANSA).