Call on the European Union to use its navy, Italy will take "special measures" to cope with the surging wave of immigration
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on the 15th local time that Italy will take "special measures" to deal with the surging wave of immigrants, and called on the European Union to provide support, including using the navy to prevent illegal immigrants from departing from North Africa.
On the same day, Meloni posted a video on social media saying that the Italian cabinet is scheduled to meet on the 18th and will determine multiple "special measures" to deal with the immigration wave, including requiring the military to build larger detention facilities and extending the detention time for illegal immigrants.
Meloni also called on the European Union to take immediate measures to prevent immigrants from traveling from North Africa to Italy and, if necessary, to use naval power.
On September 15th local time, immigrants arrived at the port of Lampedusa Island by boat
Italy is a major "bridgehead" for immigrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean into European countries. The Meroni government came to power in October last year and made curbing illegal immigration a top priority in its governance. But about 126000 immigrants have arrived in Italy this year, almost double the number from the same period last year. From the 11th to the 13th of this month, over 8500 immigrants arrived by boat from North Africa on the Italian Mediterranean island of Lampedusa near the African continent, exceeding the local resident population, forcing the local government to declare a state of emergency.
On the 15th, Meloni invited Ursula Vondrein, President of the European Commission, to Lampedusa Island to experience the "seriousness of the situation". At the same time, he appealed to Charles Michel, President of the European Council, to include coping with the migration tide in the agenda of the EU Summit in October.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur quoted von der Leyen's spokesman as saying that von der Leyen accepted the invitation and was scheduled to visit Italy on the 16th. He would talk with Meloni and go to Lampedusa Island together.
