Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi addressed the Senate on February 27 during question time, once again discussing migration policies and emphasizing Italy’s cooperation with Libya.
"I reiterate the government's commitment to cooperation initiatives with the countries of origin and transit of the migrant flows, including Libya," were the words of the Italian Minister of Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, during question time at the Senate on 27 February.
"Today I met with the Libyan Minister of Interior to consolidate the cooperation initiatives we have, which include preventing departures that put human lives at risk to the constant commitment in search and rescue missions according to international law, the strengthening of the humanitarian corridors and assisted voluntary repatriations, with the full involvement of international humanitarian institutions, such as IOM and UNHCR," he added.
The case regarding the Geo Barents intervention
The Minister referred to the Senate concerning the rescue intervention conducted by the Geo Barents ship last 18 November, in an "area which falls under Libyan responsibility concerning search and rescue at sea."
The intervention, he specified, was not coordinated with the Italian Center of the Coast Guard.
Despite this, he added, "the Italian Coordination Center assigned the port of arrival to Reggio Calabria."
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"It is important to underscore that the Court in Crotone, with a sentence issued on 13 February regarding another case, has specified and recognized that the Libyan Coast Guard and border guard are the 'authorities involved in managing migration flows in the search and rescue area under their responsibility', according to measures established by international conventions," he added.
"I would like to add that the Council of State, with a recent sentence issued on 25 February (following the appeal concerning previous interventions at sea conducted by Geo Barents), established that it is fully correct for the Ministry of Interior, on the grounds of its evaluations, to assign the port of arrival for the ships transporting migrants."
"The sentences confirm our policy and clarify against the criticism, even specious ones, moved against the government's operations," he concluded.
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The sentence of the Council of State following the failure of the appeal
The territorial dislocation of the sheltering facilities in Italy, according to the judges of the Council of State, "and the connection between the various phases following the initial assistance, aimed at defining the request for international protection or repatriations, take place at multiple facilities located across the entire national territory, and therefore require a centralized management of the issue. This must take into account not just the material assistance needs, but also the following procedures necessary to distinguish between economic migrants and those requesting asylum, assigning them accordingly in a different way."
And therefore "it is entirely legitimate -- it is underscored -- that the Administrative Authority manages the migration flows entries to anticipate these issues, paying attention not just to the initial phase of the arrival, but also to the following phases, "differentiating" the single arrivals in an orderly way and in accordance with the capacity, on the one hand, of the hotspots (which are usually near the arrival areas of the ships), as well as the first level shelter centers, which after this phase manage the flow of migrants", said Piantedosi.