Tar inte emot migranter från Lampedusa: Varför inte?

Gerald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior of France, has declared that France will not accept any of the thousands of migrants who have arrived on the island of Lampedusa, sparking tension between France and Italy. Darmanin made this statement during an interview with French radio channel Europe 1 on Monday. The announcement comes on the same day that Darmanin travels to Rome to meet with his Italian counterpart, Matteo Piantedosi, to discuss the situation on the island. According to Darmanin, France’s goal is to ”help Italy control its borders to prevent people from coming.” He also stated that it is wrong to assume that migrants should be immediately sent to France or all of Europe simply because they have arrived in Europe. On Sunday, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, visited Lampedusa and urged EU member states to share responsibility. She presented a plan that includes better control procedures for arrivals and support for sending asylum seekers to other EU countries. Germany’s Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, expressed support for von der Leyen’s proposal to strengthen monitoring of the EU’s external borders in the Mediterranean, stating that the migration situation can only be resolved if all of Europe contributes. Last week, Germany paused a voluntary agreement among EU countries to accept asylum seekers, preventing migrants from being able to enter the country from Italy.