What is the immigration state of emergency that Italy has activated?

The government of Giorgia Meloni has decreed this Tuesday a state of emergency for the whole country that will be in force during the next six months after more than 3,000 people disembarked at the end of Easter on the Italian coast. The Minister of Civil Protection and Maritime Policies, Nello Musumeciwas the one who first proposed the measure, which will be financed by five million euros. Its purpose is to repeal many of the current immigration policy laws and toughen the entry of migrants into the Italian country.

In two salvage operations, which are still in progress, the Italian Coast Guard has intercepted two ships with more than 1,200 people on board near Calabria and Sicily. Added to this are about 2,000 people that the rescue teams had managed to save since the previous Good Friday. This massive arrival of migrants has provoked the reaction of the Italian Government, which has chosen to start approving mechanisms to tighten immigration policiesas is the declaration of the state of emergency Throughout the national territory.

With this migratory state of exception, the Government has the purpose of stop the massive entry of migrants to its shores. With this, it is intended to “repeal some of the rules of the current system,” according to Musumeci, according to statements collected by Efe, and facilitate measures such as the expulsion of migrants applicable throughout the territory in addition to the increase in structures for the repatriation of migrants. legally in Italy.

Musumeci has denied that this situation is being resolved “whose solution is only linked to a conscious and responsible intervention of the European Union”. The declaration was approved by the Council of Ministers on April 12 and will accompany the Italians until September of this year, in order to record what they consider to be a serious phenomenon that has increased, according to the numbers that Musumeci himself manages, a 300% in recent yearssources from the Italian Ministry of the Interior have informed Efe.

What is a legal state of emergency in Italy?

Facing a calamity, from humanitarian crises to catastrophic natural phenomena are some of the legal reasons by which the State can obtain extraordinary powers. The state of emergency in legal terms is a administrative act which must be approved by the Council of Ministers through which the Government can apply a series of exceptional measures it could not run in other situations.

As stated in the article of the Italian Civil Code about the necessary requirements for these cases: “Emergencies of national importance are those that are related to calamitous events of natural origin or derived from human activity that, due to their intensity or extent, must be dealt with immediacy of interventionwith extraordinary means and powers that will be used during a limited and predefined time”.

This resolution is also accompanied by an allocation of certain financial resources destined for urgent interventions and that must be extracted from the Italian National Emergency Fund, that can grow during the state of exception and can be applied both in local, regional and national level. In the latter case, the state of emergency cannot exceed twelve months, although it can be extended for another year and in the case of wanting to continue with it, a law would have to be approved. Specifically, Italy is a nation that has already declared a state of emergency on numerous occasions.

What measures are applied in this state of emergency

As reported by the Italian Council of Ministers, extraordinary measures are going to be implemented to decongest lampedusa and build new facilitiess both for the reception and for the recognition and repatriation of many migrants in an irregular situation. Specifically, they will build at least “a repatriation center for each region“, according to Matteo Salvini, vice president of the executive.

The National Emergency Fund has already allocated five million euros pending an assessment of real financial needs. Salvini, who currently also serves as Minister of Transport, promoted between 2018 and 2019, then as head of the Interior, a severe anti-immigration action with some actions that are now settled in court, such as his refusal to accept the disembarkation in ports to humanitarian shipsaccording to Eph.

But it has not been the only request of the League, the Italian far-right party. The leader of the group in the Chamber of Deputies, Riccardo Molinarihas commented with respect to the reception centers that his intention is to “extend the stay to 180 daysas before” and “recover” some “rules” of the past, which they consider “have proven effective in limiting illegal immigration”.

Salvini, who maintains that it is necessary “for Europe to wake up”, has taken advantage of this situation to point to the European Union, which it accuses of “never” having “lifted a finger” and to which it demands some kind of demonstration that “there is a community, a union, and that solidarity is not only the responsibility of Italy, Spain, Greece or Malta”.