Italy, Greece, Malta and Cyprus have addressed the European Commission asking for a “serious discussion”, on how to coordinate operations related to immigrants, trying to enter Europe through the Mediterranean, saying that the burden is currently unbearable.
In a letter published at the weekend, the countries stated the voluntary settlement mechanism approved in June, but said that “the number that is undertaken to resettlement by the participating member states represents only a very small part of the actual number of irregular arrival cases that we receive so far this year “.
She said that in addition to that, the mechanism is not characterized by enough to alleviate “the burden we are exposed to continuously, as members of the confrontation line, as only a small number has been localized so far. ”
In the letter, the countries stressed that without agreement on a “mechanism to share the burden effectively, fair and lasting”, they cannot be “possible European landing points only for illegal immigration.
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She said that this is happening in an uncompromising manner, according to the special rescue vessels options operating in the Mediterranean, “which act completely independently of the competent state authorities. ”
The letter said: “We emphasize our position that the way these private ships work are not in line with the spirit of international legal framework.
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For years, special organizations were working on the Mediterranean to save migrants and refugees, and then they were periodically required to dock in ports in Malta and Italy.
According to the rescue bodies, Malta has rejected permission requests for years, but the ships are always allowed to dock in Italy after waiting for days often..
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