UK, Italy consider joining forces on irregular
migration: Report
London and Rome are readying a joint plan to clamp
down on illegal migrant flows, Telegraph reports.
BY FEDERICA
DI SARIO
JULY 1,
2023 1:11 PM CET
https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-italy-consider-join-forces-irregular-migration-report/
The U.K. is
considering teaming up with Italy to address illegal migrant flows across the Mediterranean,
the Telegraph reported late Friday.
The
newspaper reported that Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service Simon
Case was sent to Italy in mid-June to meet senior members of the Italian
government with the aim of preparing the deal.
The
agreement, which officials quoted by the paper said would focus on small boats,
follows up on a Memorandum of Understanding signed in April by the two
countries in an effort to tackle illegal migration under the "Strategic
Migration Partnership."
Nearly
45,000 people arrived in the U.K last year after crossing the English Channel
by small boats — a record high for Britain which led a few members of the
Conservative Party, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s own political family, to
demand tougher policies on irregular migration.
Italy’s
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, meanwhile, has been increasingly focusing on
cracking down on migration flows — a wedge issue for Italy’s far-right. Around
105,000 people arrived in Italy in 2022, up 56 percent compared to the previous
year, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Last month,
Meloni successfully brokered a historic deal to overhaul the way Europe
welcomes migrants — requiring frontline states to institute a stricter asylum
procedure at the border for those deemed unlikely to be accepted and giving
capitals greater leeway to return rejected applicants.
However,
she failed to replicate her success at Friday’s European Council, where
hours-long negotiations failed to land a joint statement as Poland and Hungary
refused to drop their opposition to the already-agreed deal.
Heightened
political discussions to stem migration flows come as at least 79 people
drowned in mid-June off the Greek coast, sparking only short-lived outrage and
a muted response from the European Commission.
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