A new draft decree, which is set for adoption at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, is part of a crackdown pledged by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's far-right administration in response to an increase in migrant boat arrivals from North Africa.

The draft decree also aims to increase capacity of reception centers -- by stating that when lots of migrants arrive at once, reception centers would be able to host up to twice the number of people they are normally allowed to, thus doubling their current capacities, without actually increasing the space available.

In addition, foreigners who live legally in Italy could be deported in future if they are deemed to pose a threat to public order or national security, according to the new draft decree.

Once approved by cabinet the decree would be immediately effective, but would need to be ratified by parliament within two months or else it would lapse. During ratification, it may also be amended.

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Draft law targets unaccompanied minors

With authorities struggling to accommodate the rise in unaccompanied migrant children, the draft allows for minors over the age of 16 to be held in reception centers for adults for up to three months.

Since 2017, unaccompanied minors have received protection under a special regime, which was based on the presumption of minority. In practice this meant that children under 18 were subject to different rules and housed separately from adults.

The new decree, provides for the expulsion of migrants who falsely claim to be underage, while also giving the police broader powers to estimate the age of incoming migrants using body measurements and X-rays.

Italy is not the only country to introduce such measures as part of an asylum process, with the UK announcing plans to introduce bone scans and X-rays. However, human rights groups have warned that such measures can pose serious risks by triggering some children to flee the protective accommodation offered to them by the authorities, for fear of being subjected to the tests. This could then put them in an even more vulnerable situation where they have to fend for themselves as unregistered migrants.

Also read: UK: Bone scans to be introduced for asylum seekers

Increase in irregular migration

Meloni's ruling coalition swept into power last year promising to curb immigration. But in the year to date numbers of arrivals have almost doubled compared to the year previously. More than 133,000 migrants have arrived across the Mediterranean against just under 70,000 in the same period in 2022.

Earlier this week, the Italian prime minister admitted she had hoped to do "better" in her efforts to stem irregular migration.

"It's clear that we hoped for better in terms of immigration when we have worked so hard," she told Italian state news TG1, adding, "the results are not what we hoped for. It is certainly a very complex problem, but I am sure we will get to the bottom of it."

This month thousands of migrants arrived on the small island of Lampedusa, with some 8,500 people arriving in just three days.

Also read: Italy: Rejected asylum applicants must pay to avoid detention

'Deterrent' methods

The government last week signed off on new measures to lengthen the time migrants can be detained and increase the number of detention centers, in an effort to deter them from embarking on sea crossings.

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In a move criticized by the opposition and rights groups, Meloni's administration also decreed that migrants would have to pay almost €5,000 ($5,288) to avoid detention while appealing an asylum claim that had been rejected. The European Commission has expressed caution regarding this new measure, stating that Italy must still respect the principle "of proportionality" and indicating a possible conflict with European legislation, if the payments are demanded.

So far, Meloni's government policies have not had the desired effect on stemming migration to the southern European country. A long recession and high unemployment saw Italian politics veer to the right in recent years, bringing her to power.

According to the Poll of Polls printed on the news website Politico, Meloni's party, Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) is polling higher (around 29%) if there were to be a general election now, than it did when it won power in September 2022 (around 26%).

Some news sources in Italy reported that Meloni was slightly losing support a year after her victory at the polls, but the losses are relatively minor, and all polls seem to agree that she would still win again if the Italians were to vote today. Since the poll of polls was taken on September 21, Italian news sources report a 0.1% drop in her support at around 28.8%.

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With Reuters