The Italian government is evaluating a proposal to issue 200,000 temporary migrant visas to allow migrants arriving on Italian shores to move freely throughout the rest of Europe.
The idea was first revealed by The Times of London on July 15, which said it had spoken with Democratic Party (PD) Senator Luigi Manconi and Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy, Mario Giro. They confirmed that the government was considering the proposal. The Times dubbed the idea the Italian government's "nuclear option" to resolving the migrant crisis.
European Council Directive 2001/55
According to Giro, Italy could utilize the European Council Directive 2001/55 "on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons". The directive was created after the Yugoslav Wars to allow a large number of refugees to enter Europe.
The directive allows for the possibility of granting temporary protection for one year, which can be renewed for a maximum of one additional year. "It's a reliable hypothesis that I spoke about with (Italian interior minister) Minniti a week ago, that he said would be taken into consideration," Manconi said.
He said the idea has a precedent in 2011 under the government led by Silvio Berlusconi, when it "granted this humanitarian protection permit to thousands of displaced Tunisians who arrived in Italy".
No threat, but a 'persuasion tool'
Manconi said the proposal "isn't a threat" against the rest of Europe but rather "a persuasion tool". Giro concurred: "In Europe, there's no need for force, yelling or beating your fists, but rather, tough negotiation," he said. "At the moment we don't have strong negotiating power, but we have to find allies," he said.
Roberto Maroni, current governor of the region of Lombardy and former interior minister in 2011 when the directive was applied, said the system could still work, but only under two essential conditions. He said the first would be declaring a state of emergency, "which, as we've seen, the government doesn't want to do", and the second would be the necessity that all of those who receive a temporary stay permit be identified.
Essential conditions
Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, responding to journalists on the sidelines of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on July 17, said the topic of temporary humanitarian visas "isn't on the agenda" but that "of course we have a strategy, one that's efficient and needs European cooperation".