Calay News
The German government has announced the temporary suspension of the “voluntary European solidarity mechanism” that involved the reception of migrants from Italy. This decision has been made due to the lack of cooperation on the part of the Italian government in this process.
The “voluntary European solidarity mechanism” had as its objective the relocation of asylum seekers from southern European countries, such as Italy, Greece, and Spain, to other member states of the European Union (EU) that voluntarily offered to receive them. The idea was to relieve pressure on countries that act as gateways to Europe.
Initially, Germany committed to hosting up to 3,500 migrants arriving on the shores of southern Europe. However, Berlin has temporarily suspended this plan “until further notice,” citing the need for greater control over illegal secondary migration to Germany and the application of Dublin rules. Under these rules, a migrant’s country of arrival is responsible for processing their asylum application.
Germany has expressed frustration at Italy’s lack of cooperation in this process. During the first eight months of the year, Germany submitted 12,000 requests for referral to Italy, but only ten of them were accepted by Rome. The decision to suspend the reception of migrants from Italy reflects growing migratory pressure in Germany, which has received more than 200,000 asylum applications so far this year.
Despite this temporary suspension, Germany continues to advocate for a fairer distribution of responsibility in the reception of migrants as part of the reform of European asylum legislation. The future of collaboration on migration between these two European countries remains uncertain.
