President Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated on September 20 that Germany is encountering difficulties in accepting more migrants. He highlighted that both Germany and Italy are nearing their capacity limits, with Germany receiving a substantial portion of EU asylum requests in the first half of 2023, DW reports.
Steinmeier called for a fair distribution of migratory burdens within Europe and emphasized the necessity for stronger controls and surveillance at external borders to manage the influx of people. He also urged Italy and Germany to engage in negotiations to resolve their dispute over migrant returns.
In his three-day visit to Italy, which began on September 20, Steinmeier plans to meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and visit the southern Italian island of Sicily. Italian authorities have recently started transferring some migrants from the overwhelmed island of Lampedusa to Sicily due to record arrival numbers. To reduce the number of people coming to Europe, Steinmeier stressed the need for enhanced border controls at external borders.
The German president expressed his belief that Italy should not shoulder the migration issue alone and commended Italy for its significant humanitarian responsibility. Italy's right-wing government has faced criticism for passing decrees that restrict migrants' rights and hinder nonprofit rescue missions at sea.
Germany suspended the voluntary intake of migrants from Italy last week until further notice, citing Italy's refusal to take back individuals whose asylum processes fall under Rome's responsibility according to EU law.
In recent times, several German politicians have proposed implementing an annual cap on the number of migrants and asylum seekers. Conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz suggested setting the cap at 200,000 per year, while Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats rejected the idea.
Official figures indicate that, excluding Ukrainians, Germany received approximately 175,000 asylum requests in 2023. Additionally, Germany has taken in over 1 mn refugees from Ukraine, who undergo a special asylum process introduced by the EU in response to Russia's war. Meanwhile, the German government is actively seeking migrants to fill around 2 mn job vacancies and has passed reforms to the skilled work immigration law.
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