Ireland To Take 10 Migrants From Italy In 'solidarity'

Ireland said Monday it would accept 10 migrants from Italy, in the first response by an EU country to Rome's call for help after more than 2,000 landed on its shores

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2021 ) :Ireland said Monday it would accept 10 migrants from Italy, in the first response by an EU country to Rome's call for help after more than 2,000 landed on its shores.

"We are assisting Italy by accepting 10 people as a voluntary gesture of solidarity," a spokesman for the Irish permanent representation to the EU told AFP.

The European Commission confirmed Ireland was the first EU nation to respond to requests to take in arrivals from the latest wave that landed in Italy.

"Discussions are ongoing, and we encourage member states to show solidarity and participate in relocation efforts," a spokesman for the EU executive told AFP.

Migration returned to the top of the political agenda in Italy a week ago after 2,200 asylum-seekers arrived on its tiny island of Lampedusa from Tunisia and Libya in the space of a few days.

Prime Minister Mario Draghi is pushing EU partners to revive migrant burden-sharing deals as it seeks to stave off a summertime surge in landings from North Africa.

Draghi said "active talks are ongoing with Germany and France to revive" the Malta agreement, under which a number of EU countries agreed in 2019 to share responsibility for migrants who arrive in Italy or Malta.

So far this year, some 13,300 migrants have landed on Italy's shores -- a sizeable increase from the around 4,300 and 1,200 who arrived by sea during the same period in 2020 and 2019 respectively.

At the same time, the central Mediterranean is one of the world's deadliest migration routes. It is patrolled by a handful of charity rescue ships, who say that EU authorities are not doing enough to help their cause.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN agency, more than 550 people have died in crossings from North Africa to Italy and Malta since the start of 2021.