“The French are waiting […] an effective immigration control policy, which must be effective, dignified and firm. » Prime Minister Michel Barnier went this Friday, October 18, to Menton in the Alpes-Maritimes and to Ventimiglia in Italy to talk about the fight against irregular immigration. They were accompanied by two ministers from the government of Giorgia Meloni whose initiatives in this area are closely watched by several European countries such as France.
From the Pont Saint-Ludovic border post, a “nerve point” of the migration issue, the minister also announced the generalization of the “border force” to all land borders of the territory. This experimental unit launched in June 2023 in Hautes-Alpes and Alpes-Maritimes, brings together 270 police officers, gendarmes, customs officers and Sentinel soldiers within the same structure.
A brigade in cooperation with Italy
Accompanied by his Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, a supporter of firmness in matters of migration, the Prime Minister clarified the contours of the new intelligence unit between the two countries, announcing the creation of a joint investigation brigade against migrant smuggling.
Asked about Italy’s decision to send asylum seekers to a processing center in Albania, Michel Barnier was more reserved. The transfer of migrants to third countries “is not an example that can be transposed to France” for reasons “legal and institutional”, he assured. However, “ we will cooperate even more with transit countries or departure countries. This is what Italy is doing with the support of the European Union, with Libya or with Tunisia, and we are going to cooperate with these countries”added the former European Commissioner.
While a new immigration law is in preparation, Michel Barnier also welcomed the European Union pact on migration and asylum, adopted on May 14, 2024 and whose implementation is planned for mid-2026. The Prime Minister mentioned a future text in preparation detailing that it will contain, in particular, the transposition of this text into French law. Adopted in May 2024, this pact provides for an accelerated procedure for examining asylum applications via a mandatory “filtering” system prior to a migrant’s entry into the EU.
Read also : Migrants: one route closes to Italy, another saturates towards the Canaries
63% fewer asylum seekers
Over the first eight months of this year, arrivals of asylum seekers in Italy by sea decreased by 63% compared to the same period in 2023. A decrease due, in part, to the controversial agreements sealed with the countries of departures, like Tunisia, which detain migrants to the detriment of human rights.
This tightening of controls in North Africa, negotiated by Italy in exchange for large checks, has partly diverted migratory flows towards West Africa, then towards the Spanish archipelago of the Canaries, in the Ocean Atlantic. Over the past six months, 373 canoes, inflatables and other frail boats have docked, crowded. On board, 25,500 migrants, more than double (11,400) from last year at the same period, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
