Brussels has a 10-point plan to tackle Lampedusa's migrant crisis. Much of it remains unclear

euronews (in English)

The EU has promised immediate support to Italy as the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa struggles with a surge in migrant arrivals, but has failed to clarify what new measures its so-called '10-point plan for Lampedusa' includes.

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00:00 The 10-point plan presented by the European Commission to alleviate migratory pressure

00:06 on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa seems a mix of old purposes and new measures difficult

00:12 to be put in place.

00:15 During her short trip to the island together with Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Maloney,

00:19 Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised that Lampedusa can count on the European

00:23 Union.

00:24 But it`s not clear how much of the plan can actually be executed.

00:30 One idea to expand the naval missions in the Mediterranean is ambiguous.

00:34 And it`s also not clear if the Commission wants a search and rescue operation or rather

00:38 a kind of naval blockade as proposed in the past by Maloney.

00:45 We will step up the border surveillance at sea and aero surveillance, including to export

00:54 to front, sorry, and explore options also for naval missions on this.

01:02 And here discussions will continue in this regard.

01:06 But the transfer of people out of Lampedusa to other EU member states using the voluntary

01:10 solidarity mechanism appears complicated.

01:14 The French interior minister already said that his country will not accept migrants

01:18 from the island.

01:20 Since June 2022, nearly 1,200 people have been relocated from Italy to other countries.

01:27 Humanitarian organizations are also raising concerns over some other points of the plan,

01:31 like the introduction of accelerated procedures for analyzing asylum requests.

01:36 The accelerated asylum procedure worries us, because we think it can lead to the risk of

01:43 violating the Geneva Convention, but also because we are afraid that there is not enough

01:50 time, not enough situations that should allow asylum seekers to have time to explain their

01:56 story, that their story is listened to.

01:59 The Commission could even face problems with the deal it made in July with Tunisia to financially

02:03 assist the country in order to stop migratory flows.

02:07 The European Council`s legal service says it was signed without respecting the correct

02:12 procedures and member states could block the disembursement of funds.

02:16 Thank you.

02:21 (dramatic music)

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