The Italian government will soon be sending delegations on missions to countries of origin and transit as part of stepped-up efforts to reduce the number of foreign nationals arriving in the country as migrants.

The measures, announced recently by the government, also include speeding up the provision of patrol boats and other vehicles to Tunisia, a critical departure point for migrants headed to Italian shores. In addition, Italy will introduce a security package aimed at increasing repatriations.

Weekly high-level meeting to take stock of situation

The government has established an operations command within the Interministerial Committee for the Security of the Republic (CISR). This committee will convene weekly to evaluate the ongoing developments.

Chaired by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the committee includes key officials such as Alfredo Mantovano, tasked with the Authority for the Security of the Republic. Ministers from the foreign affairs, interior, defense, justice, economy, enterprises, "Made in Italy," and environment sectors are also part of the committee. Overseeing the body is Elisabetta Belloni, the director of the Department of Information for Security (DIS).

The numbers worry the government: 114,000 arrivals in eight months, double the numbers seen in 2022. The fear is that there may be an erosion of consensus on an issue that was one of the rallying calls of the government majority during the election campaign.

Thus, there have been calls to close ranks and avoid "unaligned" statements by ministers and instead present a cohesive stance to counterparts on the southern Mediterranean shores.

Delegations to visit countries of origin

The next visits to major migration origin countries may involve ministerial delegations, acknowledging the multidisciplinary nature of migration challenges. Collaboration across law enforcement, intelligence, diplomacy, and the economy is seen as crucial to address the issue.

There is also the intention to ensure that agreements stipulated with Tunisia in particular are implemented on the ground.

There is a roundtable between the Italian interior ministry and the Tunisian authorities that has identified strategies to ensure the adequate patrolling of the coasts and to curb the departures.

There is talk of patrol boats, pick-up trucks, and radars, but for the moment, these have not yet been provided to Tunisia but are expected to be delivered within the next few months.

Other vehicles will come from an agreement with the EU, which has allocated €105 million. Among the interventions funded is strengthening of the Tunisian Coast Guard with the sending of 17 re-equipped units and 8 new ones.

However, a European Commission spokesperson warned, the Memorandum of Understanding with Tunisia should not be considered a "method for rapid solution" of migration problems and we "expect results to be achieved over the medium term."

New security package

A new security package by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi will reportedly go before the Cabinet by the end of September. This package, whether as a decree or a draft law, will include measures to facilitate the repatriation of migrants who have engaged in criminal behavior, as well as faster procedures to ascertain the real age of the migrants.

The interior ministry has indicated to prefects to build a repatriation center for migrants in every region.

In the first seven months of the year, 2,500 migrants were repatriated, a number that the government aims to increase.

Meanwhile, bad weather conditions have temporarily halted departures.

For the first time since August 7, 24 hours have passed without a single migrant disembarking on Italian shores after a daily record of more than 3,000 seen on Saturday (August 26) .

Author: Massimo Nesticò