Germany suspends asylum settlement with Italy

Zoom in on the screen

Germany promised to receive 3,500 immigrants who sought asylum for the first time in Italy.

But after 1,700 people arrived in the country, they are now pausing settlement.

The Italian Red Cross has warned that humanitarian conditions on the Italian island of Lampedusa are dire, after more than 5,000 people arrived on more than 100 different migrant boats on the island in one day. It is believed that the reason for the large influx is that human smugglers in North Africa take the opportunity to travel when the sea is calm.

According to Italian authorities, there are currently more than 6,000 migrants in the reception center in Lampedusa – a center that has the capacity to house 3,000 people, La Repubblica newspaper wrote.

At the same time, the German Ministry of the Interior announced that it would stop receiving immigrants from Italy, whom it had committed to receiving through a European settlement between the European Union countries.

Suspended until further notice

Therefore, the previous promise to receive 3,500 asylum seekers from Italy remains at 1,700 – until further notice.

The reason is said to be the high immigration pressure on Germany and difficulties when it comes to, among other things, reception capacity.

Which EU country must examine an asylum claim is regulated under the Dublin Regulation. The basic rule is that a person who has been an asylum seeker in another EU country, or has a visa there, must have his or her asylum application examined there.

The voluntary settlement aims to relieve pressure on member states that have borders with countries outside the European Union and thus receive many asylum seekers.

A new record in Italy

“A few days ago there were more than 4,000 people and we were talking about a record number. “Today we are talking about a new record number of arrivals,” Italian Red Cross Director Rosario Valastro wrote on social media about the number of migrants who arrived in Italy in just one day. .

On Wednesday night, at least one infant died when a boat capsized near the coast, Italian state radio reported.

The Red Cross is urging the Italian government to bring the migrants to the mainland.