Germany is seeking to resume transfers of migrants to Italy and Greece. As part of the launch of the EU's Pact on Migration and Asylum earlier this summer, the enforcement of so-called Dublin returns is likely to be pursued more decisively by some EU members like Germany, reports indicate.
Reports in Italian newspapers this week have been suggesting that Germany is preparing to begin insisting on so-called 'Dublin returns' to Italy and other countries as part of its implementation of the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum that launched on June 12.
A spokesperson for the German Interior Ministry reportedly told the Italian ANSA news agency that the Dublin system was "an indispensable condition" for the success of the Common European Asylum System, which forms the majority of the new EU pact.
Another Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, reported that the spokesperson said that Germany was in particular eyeing transfers to Italy and Greece, insisting that these transfers must be carried out immediately.
However, Italy's Interior Ministry meanwhile told ANSA that there are "no Dublin migrants to take back from Germany," explaining that Rome considers all "Dublin migrants" who moved to another EU member state before the pact to have been cleared.
Then on August 12, a report in Italy's financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, suggested that the German Interior Ministry was "bemused" by all the requests coming from Italian journalists, insiting that "we are a little surprised by the fuss that has been made, because Germany and Italy have been cooperating well on migration policy for some time."
However, Dublin returns have not been applied between Germany and Italy since 2022. Partly because Italy had suspended most of these in practice.
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The disagreement meanwhile extends beyond the two countries; a report by the European Commission published in July found that eight EU member states in total had requested that Italy take back 12 migrants in total.
Italy has firmly rejected those requests for the time being, arguing that the changes introduced under the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum were still too fresh to assess when and where action needed to be taken between member states.
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Germany plans first transfer in mid-August
Under the EU's Dublin III regulation, migrants are obliged to lodge their asylum request in the first EU country they enter. However in practise, many file a claim and then move on to another EU country while the initial application is still in process.
Dublin rules previously indicated that authorities in the second country typically have six months' time to return such migrants to their first country of application. This time period has now been extended to up to 36 months, depending on the category of the person and whether they meet certain criteria.
The new EU pact has also introduced stricter rules on such secondary movements of migrants from one EU member to another — despite the tacit objection of countries like Italy and Greece, which are located at the forefront of most migrant arrivals.
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Italy has eventually expressed its willingness to cooperate with other EU nations' Dublin requests, though remains reluctant about the timing: According to ANSA, Germany intends to return a Somali woman to Italy next week under Dublin provisions.
German authorities have decided that her asylum request in Germany is invalid, and that the case should be handed over to the responsibility of Italy.
According to ANSA, a 22-year-old Somali woman, who is currently living in a reception center in Bavaria, will be the first to be sent back.
Germany's Interior Ministry reportedly sent her a letter on June 25, in which they told her she would be transferred on August 19. The police are expected to pick her up and make the transfer. ANSA have reported that the young woman fled her father and arranged marriage and arrived in Germany on March 31, after first traveling through Italy.
Her mother, brother and other relatives already live in Germany and so she wanted to apply for aylum in Germany too. However, Germany's Interior Ministry insist she falls under Italy's jurisdiction and insist that the conditions are not met for an asylum application in Germany.
They applied to the Italian authorities in June and when they received no answer within the statutory two weeks for a reply, they considered that a "tacit positive response," to the deportation application.
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Italy threatens with changing treatment of NGO ships
Italy meanwhile has also threatened to shift the transfer debate to a greater diplomatic stand-off, highlighting the fact that there are migrants who get intercepted at sea near Italy with the help of NGO ships that fly under foreign flags.
Many of these NGOs fly German flags, which Italy argues should mean that Germany should take them in — instead of them being disembarked in Italian ports.
Critics say that Italy is only trying to buy time: Rome says it will only begin to accept transferred migrants once the so-called solidarity mechanism of the EU's Pact on Migration and Asylum is rolled out; under this mechanism, Italy will receive compensation payments for rejected asylum seekers sent back to the country through which they entered the European Union.
The European Commission meanwhile said that an EU member cannot refuse to receive transferred migrants and can only propose an alternative date to carry out the transfer.
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