The Italian Council of Ministers has endorsed a new, more restrictive immigration bill. It includes a naval blockade to stop migrant boats and tighter requirements for family reunification. For the bill to become law, the two houses of parliament still have to approve it.
The immigration bill was approved by Italy's Council of Ministers late on Wednesday (February 11). The draft legislation would allow a naval blockade to stop migrant boats in the Mediterranean, more cooperation with EU border agency Frontex at the Italian borders and the reinstatement of the so-called "Albania model."
The bill also includes tighter requirements for complementary protection and family reunification, and measures to expel people who have taken part in riots at Repatriation Detention Centers (CPRs).
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What exactly is the planned 'naval blockade'?
The naval blockade is one of the central provisions of the bill. It would allow Italy to ban boats from its territorial waters for a period of 30 days, renewable up to a maximum of six months.
Among the reasons Italy could impose a blockade under the bill are "exceptional migratory pressure compromising the secure management of borders" and "international public health emergencies." In the past, Italy has declared similar states of emergency related to migrant arrivals in southern Italy.
The blockade could have a significant impact on migrants crossing in boats from North Africa and NGOs rescuing people in the central Mediterranean, keeping them from landing on Italian shores.
Violations of the blockade would lead to fines ranging from €10,000 to €50,000 for a vessel's operator, shipowner, and proprietor. In cases of repeated violations, a vessel could be confiscated.
The bill also stipulates that migrants aboard vessels "may also be transferred to third countries other than their country of origin or departure with which Italy has concluded specific agreements or arrangements providing for assistance, reception, or detention in dedicated facilities, where international organizations, specialized in migration and asylum operate, including for the repatriation to the country of origin."
If it passes, the bill may allow the Italian government to send more migrants to its controversial centers in Albania.
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Stricter rules on family reunification and residence permits
The bill would also further restrict the ability for migrants in Italy to bring their families to the country.
The government said that the bill introduces "stricter criteria than those currently in force" to "limit abuse of the instrument and ensure that access to benefits is reserved for those in objectively vulnerable conditions and lacking adequate support in their country of origin."
Conditions for obtaining complementary protection (i.e., the residence permit granted to foreigners who do not qualify for political asylum) would also be tightened if the bill were to pass in parliament.
Four criteria are required: at least five years of regular residence, "certified" knowledge of the Italian language, availability of housing meeting health and sanitary standards, and financial resources comparable to those required for family reunification.
The bill also makes it easier for a judge to order the expulsion of a foreign national or the removal of an EU citizen if they have been convicted of a crime. Grounds for expulsion include violence or threats against a public official, crimes against the family, and participation in riots at repatriation detention centers (CPRs).
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Criticism against naval blockade from sea rescue groups
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a video message released late on Wednesday (February 11) that the bill would allow her government to "fulfil another commitment we made to citizens [that under] exceptional migratory pressure, [we could] prevent the crossing of Italian territorial waters and to transfer migrants aboard interdicted vessels to third countries."
Migrant rights activists and sea rescue organizations criticized the bill.
Nine non-governmental charities that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, including SOS Humanity, Sea-Watch, Mediterranea Saving Humans and Doctors Without Borders issued a statement, saying that the bill was designed "to target and block humanitarian ships, with the result of increasing the number of people who lose their lives at sea."
A high-profile immigration judge in Rome, Silvia Albano, told the Italian daily La Stampa that a naval blockade would only be legally justified under "truly exceptional" circumstances, given that "[t]he collective pushback of people on the high seas is prohibited by both the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and by all international conventions."
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Parliament still needs to weigh in
The immigration bill has thusfar only been proposed by the Italian government. In order for it to become law, both houses of the Italian parliament will have to approve the law.
In her video message, Meloni appealed to all those who she said had "gone on television to complain that the government wasn't doing enough to protect security...to lend us a hand and approve the bill as quickly as possible."
Meloni added that she hoped "everyone will play their part and not create obstacles." Any anticipated obstacles from the opposition, added Meloni were presumably "ideologically" motivated.
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