CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, XVII LEGISLATURE, 36th MEETING, 19 JUNE 2013.

On 19 June 2013, the Minister for Home Affairs Angelino Alfano reported at the Chamber of Deputies on recent landings of migrants on Lampedusa and other Italian coastal areas. He pointed out that the issue of managing migratory flows to Italy cannot be considered a merely national issue and asked for the cooperation of the European Union and bodies of the United Nations. He said:

The measures that Europe and Italy will have to put in place together cannot ignore the need to clear up some inescapable thorny issues. First of all -I want to say it clearly- an amendment of the principle of the Dublin Regulation according to which the State of first entry is responsible for the reception of asylum seekers. I said it loud and clear in Luxembourg, on the occasion of the first Council of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA), and we will reiterate it in Europe, clear and distinct, that Lampedusa is not only the Italian frontier, but the land that marks the border where Italy ends and Africa begins, and, conversely, where Africa begins and not only Italy, but Europe begins […]

And he added:

Difficulties do not originate solely from the complex situation of the government in Tripoli; in fact, the ethnic composition of the refugees highlights that they come from Horn of Africa and sub-Saharan Africa countries affected by inter-ethnic conflicts or lacking strong and reliable institutions. It is therefore necessary -under the auspices of the European Union and bodies of the United Nations- to carry on and intensify effective efforts to bring peace to those areas of the African continent and to support the hard process of stabilization and consolidation of democracy […]

Finally, he stated:

We must be aware that the control of irregular migration creates a lucrative source of income for criminal organizations, promptly reinvested in other forms of trafficking. The demand for humanitarian solidarity should therefore be combined with the aim of an effective fight against this new form of slavery. For this reason, we must not neglect to maintain the efficiency of our police structures and to pursue the activity of transnational cooperation with Frontex and similar bodies of other countries, especially those concerned by the transit of migrants.

The full Italian version of the statement made by the Minister for Home Affairs can be found at:

http://documenti.camera.it/Leg17/resoconti/assemblea/xhtml/sed0036/tabellaSommarioStenografico.html