France does not want to accept immigrants from Lampedusa
The neighboring country wants to combat irregular migration and adopt a tough stance. Border controls will be tightened.
Migrants from Egypt, Syria, Ethiopia and Sudan arrive in Lampedusa on Tuesday. They started in Tunisia.
Photo: Cerro Fusco (Keystone, EPA)
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin refused to accept migrants who arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean. “France will not accept immigrants from Lampedusa,” Darmanin said Tuesday evening on TF1. France wants a tough stance.
Darmanin said that there is irregular migration in France and Italy, as is the case in all of Europe, and it must be combated. “It is not that by accepting more people, we can allow the flow that affects our ability to integrate to dry up.” He also announced that he would “strengthen” controls on the French-Italian border.
According to Darmanin, France has offered to help Italy return its citizens to countries with which Paris has good diplomatic relations. The Interior Minister said that 60% of the people who arrived in Lampedusa spoke French.
Last week, several thousand migrants arrived by boat in Lampedusa. More than 5,000 people arrived on the island between Sicily and North Africa on Tuesday last week alone, more than ever before in a single day. The initial reception center was very overcrowded at times. To relieve pressure on the camp, thousands of people were transferred on ferries and police ships to Sicily or directly to the Italian mainland.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called on European countries on Sunday to accept some migrants arriving in Italy. Von der Leyen provided a contingency plan. Germany is considering resuming reception of refugees from Italy, which was recently stopped under a voluntary agreement.
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