The Italian government is considering creating a migrant center in Ventimiglia, a town on the border with France where migrants congregate before trying to reach the neighboring country, Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi revealed on Wednesday.
“Ventimiglia has always suffered, and still suffers, from the transit of migrants,” the minister emphasized in a television program on the public broadcaster Rai Uno, quoted by the Ansa agency.
Matteo Piantedosi said the Italian government is working with France to control that border.
“It is one of those places where we are paying attention to the construction of one of those structures that we want to deploy precisely to contain the phenomenon,” he added.
In recent days, the Italian island of Lampedusa has received around 10,000 illegal migrants, who left African shores and crossed the Eastern Mediterranean route to enter Europe.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni assured this week that she will not allow “Italy to become the refugee camp of Europe.”
Meloni criticized the cooperation of other European Union member states and admitted that there was “great attention and awareness” about the situation of migrants, but stressed that it is necessary to “see when and to what extent solidarity will take the form of concrete actions”.
On the other hand, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin declared on Tuesday that France “will not welcome migrants from Lampedusa,” emphasizing his country’s “firm position.”
“If we welcome more people, we will not stop a flow that exceeds our ability to integrate,” Darmanin insisted, speaking to the TF1 channel, arguing that “it is necessary to fight” illegal immigration and that “the solution is European”.
The French minister was in Italy on Monday to meet his Italian counterpart Matteo Piantedosi to discuss the migration crisis.
According to Darmanin, “it is necessary to distinguish immigrants from political refugees” and that is why France has asked Italian authorities to determine who falls into each of the categories.
“If they are persecuted, it is the duty of France and other countries to welcome them, but this is not the case for the majority,” he stressed.
The French government official confirmed that another 200 police officers have been sent to reinforce the 150 controlling the border with Italy, especially at the Menton post, which is being expanded.
And he recalled that French agents at that border post have denied entry to about 30,000 people since the beginning of this year.
About 130,000 migrants have disembarked in Italy since the beginning of this year, more than double the number of arrivals in the same period last year (68,000) and triple compared to 2021 (43,000), according to data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior. .
Source: DN
