"The Italian government intends to take immediate extraordinary measures to deal with the number of migrants landing on our coast," Meloni said in a video posted on X on Friday.
Among the measures to be adopted on Monday is an increase in the time migrants can be held in detention centers from 12 to 18 months, the maximum allowed under European law. Another step will be the strengthening of repatriation centers, which will be entrusted to the Italian Defense Ministry. Migrants will stay in these facilities for the entire duration of their refugee status processing before a decision is made. An additional measure would be to build more reception centers in areas of low population density.
Meloni also said she had invited European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to visit the Italian island of Lampedusa, which has been hit by the crisis, "to make sure that the situation is serious," and asked European Council President Charles Michel to put the migration issue on the agenda of the European Union summit in October. The Italian prime minister added that the EU should immediately launch a mission to stop ships carrying migrants from setting sail.
On September 13, Lampedusa authorities declared a state of emergency after more than 8,000 undocumented migrants arrived on the island in three days, which is more than its permanent population.
Italy is seeking a solidarity approach from the EU in solving the migration problem, blaming the flow of undocumented immigrants on the ships of various NGOs involved in rescuing refugees in the sea straits closest to Italy. Meloni said that Italy "has been left alone" to deal with the migration crisis.