EU Must Rethink Migrant Rescue Missions To Account For New Approach - Italy Prime Minister

European missions to rescue refugees at sea need to be updated in accordance with the new approach to migration worked out at the June EU Council summit, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said after a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

ROME (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2018) European missions to rescue refugees at sea need to be updated in accordance with the new approach to migration worked out at the June EU Council summit, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said after a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

In June, the European Council summit agreed on several aspects of EU migration policy. The leaders subsequently agreed to set up "regional disembarkation platforms" for people saved in naval search and rescue operations, as part of a new approach to migration based on shared or complementary actions among the EU member states. Moreover, the council agreed to establish controlled centers in member states on a voluntary basis.

"If we do not want a repeat of the situation like the one with the Diciotti vessel, we need a European response ... It is necessary to revise as soon as possible operational protocols of European missions such as Sophia and Frontex, which should be updated in accordance with the June decisions of the EU Council," Conte said.

Conte added that he presented to Kurz Italy's position on migration ahead of the EU summit in Zalzburg, scheduled to start on Wednesday, adding that the June conclusions "had given a new perspective to the European strategy on migration.

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Establishing centers will allow irregular migrants, who will be forced out of the European Union, to be effectively distinguishing from those in need of international protection and will be allowed to stay, according to the June summit conclusions. The resettlement or relocation of migrants across the bloc is expected to be done on a voluntary basis amid the lack of consensus.

On August 15, the Italian Coast Guard rescued 177 migrants and took them on board its Diciotti vessel. Since neither Maltese nor Italian authorities agreed to allow migrants to disembark at their ports, the ship was forced to remain at sea. The migrants spent 10 days on board the ship before they were allowed to get off at the port of Catania in Sicily.

Italy accepted 40 unaccompanied minors and sick people from the vessel, while Albania, Ireland and the Italian Episcopal Conference agreed to host the remaining 137 migrants.