A total of 850 migrants had been repatriated since the beginning of this year, according to Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese.
The Minister’s comments came during question time in the Chamber of Deputies, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“This has been made possible in part thanks to continual dialog [between Italy and partner countries] resulting from agreements reached with the authorities in Tunisia, one of the countries from which the greatest numbers of migrants come,” Lamorgese pointed out in this regard.
The Interior Minister has stressed that to continue to stop migrant trafficking, it was essential that authorities in the European Union countries worked together on creating “strategic partnerships with countries in North Africa, beginning with Libya and Tunisia,” as reported by InfoMigrants.
Lamorgese hopes that Italy, as well as the EU and North African countries, keep working together on the issue of repatriation and border control.
The Minister stressed that the only way to face problems of huge complexity is the European policy on the issue of migration.
“A strategy to contain migration flows and to govern the phenomenon must look first and foremost at the European level since Italy is simply an external border of Europe,” she emphasized in this regard.
The Minister went on saying that the Ministry has been urging the EU for assistance to all first arrival territories. However, she stressed that the primary purpose was to achieve solutions that are based on the principles of solidarity, with greater commitment from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, and with the introduction of the creation of partnerships with countries from which migrants set off.
Italy continues to receive a large number of migrants who attempt to reach this country in an unlawful way.
In this regard, earlier this year, the Italian Financial Corps, in cooperation with Europol and Eurojust, as well as the Albanian Criminal Police and the Hellenic Police, managed to dismantle a significant organized crime group that was involved in illicit affairs, including migrant smuggling.
During the action day, authorities of the countries mentioned above did a total of 28 house searches. The report emphasized that 11 houses were searched in Italy.
“The investigation started with the detection of an ongoing smuggling operation, which saw the successful rescue of the transported migrants and the arrest of eight low-level smugglers,” Europol stressed in its report.
In addition, based on Europol’s report, the criminal group operated migrant smuggling activities from Turkey to the Salento coast in Italy, through Albania and Greece. Once reaching Italy, the migrants were then eligible to enter other EU countries.
SOURCE: Schengen Visa Info
