The group of around 90 people landed in two German airports on Thursday. The migrants had been rescued in Italy and will now be sent to reception centers in four German states.
Germany’s interior ministry confirmed that it had airlifted 90 asylum seekers, who had originally arrived in Italy, to Germany on Thursday (December 1).
The group will be given accommodation while they begin their asylum process in four German states, reported the German news agency dpa. On Thursday, some of the asylum seekers landed in Frankfurt airport and others in Berlin.
They will then be shared between the states of North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW), Germany’s most populous state in the west of the country, Rhineland-Palatinate, just south of NRW along the Rhine valley, Brandenburg, the area around Berlin as well as Bavaria, in the south of the country and home to many of Germany’s most successful companies.
European voluntary solidarity mechanism
The airlift is part of the European voluntary solidarity mechanism, designed to ease the pressure on southern European states who accept the majority of the migrants arriving by virtue of their position on the southern and eastern fringes of Europe.
In October a group of 74 asylum seekers was brought to Germany from Italy to complete their asylum process in Germany, noted dpa.
Several other states have also taken part in the solidarity mechanism, but Italy and the other Mediterranean countries would still like to see more done. According to Italy’s interior ministry, over 94,000 migrants arrived in Italy by sea since the beginning of 2022. The figures were last updated on December 1.
Germany agreed to take 3,500 over next year
The latest agreements over a European solidarity mechanism took place in June this year. At that time, 21 European states agreed to take part. As part of the agreement, notes dpa, Germany said they would take in 3,500 asylum seekers until June 2023.
However, after a row broke out between Italy and France last month over who would disembark rescued migrants on board the Ocean Viking rescue ship, run by the organization SOS Mediterranee, France threatened to stop taking in its promised quota of 3,500 asylum seekers from Italy. Since then, relations between the two countries have been reportedly patched up although it is not clear if France will reignite its quota of the solidarity mechanism.
Disembarked from the Ocean Viking
Since France allowed the 284 migrants on board the Ocean Viking to disembark in the port of Toulon, news reports have suggested that some of the minors on board left the care of the authorities within days of landing.
According to the French newspaper Le Monde, the French authorities denied asylum to 123 of the adult migrants on board the Ocean Viking, saying the people had not provided "sufficient proof to back up their [asylum] claims."
The same article from November 18 also claimed that 66 of the 189 adults on board the ship would be transferred to 11 other EU nations to complete their asylum processes, including Germany, Finland and Portugal.
With dpa