Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government approved legislation that would increase the country’s efforts to curb illegal immigration. Among the approved activities in the bill is a proposal to implement “naval blockades” for boats, ships, and vessels carrying illegal immigrants to Italian shores.
The new migration legislation would also enhance border control surveillance operations and strengthen cooperative efforts with European Union agencies, the Associated Press reported.
The bill heads for debate in Italy’s Chamber of Deputies and Senate. If the bicameral legislature approves the legislation, it will become law. Incidentally, the new legislation introduced by Meloni’s government comes a day after European Union reforms on migration and asylum, the Associated Press reported.
A key component of the EU’s new immigration policies is to ease laws governing asylum refusals across the continent. It also permits European nations to deport migrants from a country deemed “safe,” or to apply for asylum in a country not in the EU, according to the Associated Press.
“We are delivering another key building block for a functioning, credible asylum system,” said Lena Düpont, a legislator from Germany’s European People’s Party, regarding the EU’s new migration policies. “By enabling manifestly unfounded asylum applications to be rejected more quickly and efficiently in the future, we are speeding up asylum procedures, relieving the burden on member state systems, and helping people avoid being stuck in legal limbo for years.”
If approved, the new law would allow Italy’s government to deploy ships to patrol Italy’s coastline for migrants seeking to enter the country illegally on vessels considered to be a serious threat “to public order or national security.” Italy would be allowed to prohibit migrant ships from entering Italian waters for up to 30 days, the Associated Press reported. The overall “blockade” would be allowed to be extended for a maximum period of six months.
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“It would also be possible to stop the ships from entering Italian waters in the case of a drastic influx in migrants that could jeopardize the secure management of borders,” said the Associated Press.
Illegal immigration has become a serious problem in the country, and Meloni made it a staple of her campaign to crack down on those entering the country illegally. Italy reportedly has the second-highest total of illegal immigrants in Europe. Meloni touted Italy’s newly proposed policies, calling them “significant” in helping curb illegal immigration.
“Today the Government approved a very significant measure to strengthen the fight against mass illegal immigration and human traffickers,” Meloni said.