Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Two were martyred in an initial toll of the Israeli drone strike that targeted the al-Asira neighborhood in the city of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli drone strike targeted the al-Asira neighborhood east of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon
Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are the greatest resistance. Know that 'Israel' will fall because it embodies aggression, crime, and occupation; victory is truly yours
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: The value of what you are doing despite your wounds is immense, and here you are, treading the path of the Master of Nation's Martyrs and the leaders
Sheikh Qassem to the pager attack survivors: You are moving forward with insight deeper than sight itself. The enemy sought to eliminate your role in the battle, yet you remain steadfast and continue the fight
Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem to the pager attack survivors one year later: You are healing from your wounds and rising above them. You have successfully passed the test
Palestinian media: Reports of stabbing operation in occupied al-Quds.
Israeli media: Sirens blare in Arava in South, near Ramon Airport.
Egyptian PM Mostafa Madbouli: Egypt is targeted in plans to redraw regional map
AEOI Chief Mohammad Eslami: Our presence in IAEA General Council and fact-checking helped in preventing unilateral rhetoric that aims to portray Iran as an unregulated country

EU: New migrant plan approved after France-Italy spat

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 25 Nov 2022 22:52
4 Min Read

European interior ministers welcome an EU plan to improve the coordination of migrant arrivals, as thousands remain stranded.

  • x
  • EU ministers endorse new migrant plan after France-Italy spat
    A migrant child sits in a cardboard box with the inscription "France" aboard the Ocean Viking rescue ship on November 10, 2022, in the Tyrrhenian Sea between Italy and Corsica island. (AFP)

After a heated row between Italy and France over a refugee rescue boat, European interior ministers welcomed an EU plan to better coordinate the handling of migrant arrivals on Friday.

France has accused Italy of violating international law by turning away an NGO vessel, triggering crisis talks in Brussels to avoid a new EU row over the politically charged issue.

Read next: Italy's new far-right thrives on anti-immigrant discourse

The meeting was described as productive by all parties, but Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, stated afterward that they had agreed that "more can and must be done" to find a long-term solution.

The ministers will gather again at a pre-planned December 8 meeting to pursue the "difficult discussion", he said. 

Margaritis Schinas, the European Commission Vice-President in charge of "promoting our European way of life," stated that Europe could no longer accept another ad hoc solution. "We cannot continue working event-by-event, ship-by-ship, incident-by-incident, route-by-route," he said, recalling that previous crises had been seized upon by "populistic and europhobe forces."

Although the number of asylum seekers is still far lower than in 2015 and 2016, the dispute has already undermined a stopgap agreement to redistribute arrivals more evenly across the 27-nation bloc.

No more 'ad hoc' plans 

For years, Brussels has been struggling to agree on and implement a new policy for sharing responsibility for migrants and asylum seekers, but the row has brought the issue to the fore.

Related News

Trump ends temporary protection for 250,000 Venezuelan migrants

Trump expands visa vetting, halts foreign trucker permits

Italy's new government under the far-right leader, Georgia Meloni, refused to allow earlier this month a Norwegian-flagged NGO ship with 234 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean to dock.

The Ocean Viking eventually arrived in France, where authorities reacted angrily to Rome's stance, canceling an earlier agreement to accept 3,500 asylum seekers stranded in Italy.

The row jeopardized the EU's stopgap interim solution, prompting Paris to convene an extraordinary meeting of interior ministers from the 27 member states on Friday.  "The Ocean Viking crisis was a bit of improvisation," Schinas admitted, defending the new plan from his commission to better coordinate rescues and migrant and refugee arrivals.

"We have twenty specific actions, we have an important political agreement, everyone is committed to working so as not to reproduce this kind of situation."

Read next: France rejects 44 asylum-seeking applications

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin stated that France has no reason to accept migrants relocated from Italy if Rome "does not accept the law of the sea."

In addition, Darmanin's Italian opposite number Matteo Piantedosi played down the Ocean Viking incident, saying the meeting was "not dealing with individual cases or operational management." He stated that he had shaken hands with the French Minister and that there was a "convergence of positions" that would allow the ministers to resume discussions at their meeting on December 8.

As the 25th of September election nears in #Italy, the far-right is focusing its campaign on immigrants.
Will Italy submit to the far-right with its neo-fascist roots? pic.twitter.com/eZuMXx7Gxn

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 22, 2022

The previous plan was developed in response to complaints from Mediterranean countries closer to North African shores, such as Italy and Greece, that they were bearing too much responsibility for migrants.

A dozen EU members agreed to take in 8,000 asylum seekers, with France and Germany each accepting 3,500, but only 117 have been relocated.

While France and Italy debate high-profile cases of dramatic sea rescues in the central Mediterranean, other EU capitals are concerned about land routes through the Balkans. According to the EU border force Frontex, nearly 130,000 undocumented migrants have entered the EU since the beginning of the year, a 160% increase.

  • Migrant Crisis
  • Italy
  • France

Most Read

Pro-"Israel" conservative Charlie Kirk shot during Utah speech

American far-right activist Charlie Kirk shot dead during Utah speech

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025
A screengrab from the ad played on Fox News. (X Screengrab)

Fox airs ad warning Trump not to let Netanyahu 'play' him on Gaza

  • US & Canada
  • 11 Sep 2025
Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

  • Palestine
  • 14 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Britain Trained Israeli Soldiers Involved in Gaza War: Declassified
Europe

UK training of Israeli officers sparks outcry over Gaza war complicity

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Luc Frieden arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Politics

Luxembourg to recognize Palestine at UN summit next week

European Union flags flap in the wind outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025 (AP)
Politics

EU exec. branch to adopt new sanctions against 'Israel' on Wednesday

Charlie Kirk killing suspect faces charges in Utah court hearing
US & Canada

Charlie Kirk murder suspect faces formal charges in Utah court hearing

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS