The group called on the government to focus on easing the situation on the small Italian island of Lampedusa, where thousands of migrants are currently being housed in hotspot with 400-person capacity.

Asylum seekers in Italy now face stricter measures: prime minister Giorgia Meloni's government recently presented an amendment to the so-called Cutro degree (passed after the tragedy on the shores of the Calabrian town where dozens of people died) in the Senate that would limit special protection status for those arriving on the Italian coasts.

Lampedusa the real problem

According to Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, the real emergency is not arrivals to mainland Italy but rather the situation on Lampedusa.

The increase in the number of migrant arrivals to the tiny Italian island from North Africa is over 300 per cent higher in the first months of 2023 compared to the previous year.

Tightening of measures on special protection status

Among the key measures introduced by the Meloni government, the one that stands out most was already included in decrees signed in 2018 and 2019 by current infrastructure minister and former deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini.

The measure would tighten the rules governing special protection in order to deny asylum seekers the ability to stay in shelters managed by the municipalities.

Instead, migrants seeking asylum would be forced stay in government shelters for 'clandestine foreigners' and hotspots until their application is answered.

The proposal would also add an additional maritime connection on Lampedusa with the ability to transfer up to 400 migrants per day to a port in southern Sicily.

The new decree, which has been harshly criticized, will be examined in the Senate from Tuesday to Thursday.