Italy Wants Migrant Centers Outside the EU

Italy will call for EU-funded migrant processing centers and return hubs in safe third countries at emergency talks among EU interior ministers, following last week’s arrival of about 50,000 migrants in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.

The influx was the first major test of the EU Migration Pact, which entered into force in June.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said the EU must focus on stopping departures before migrants reach its borders and returning those who have no right to remain.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, meanwhile, has proposed an emergency mechanism allowing accelerated procedures and, in exceptional circumstances, a temporary suspension of asylum registrations during sudden mass arrivals.

The European Commission said the situation in Ceuta had been brought under control and that the new rules had helped speed up returns. However, independent reporting from the city indicates that between 3,000 and 5,000 migrants remain, while residents have expressed anger and anxiety over the authorities’ handling of the crisis. Morocco blamed the influx on misinformation, human-trafficking networks and misinterpretations of a Spanish court ruling.

(Reuters, mja)