EU chief pledges migrant action plan in Italy's Lampedusa
By Yara Nardi
LAMPEDUSA, Italy (Reuters) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday visited the Italian island of Lampedusa, which is struggling with a surge in migrant arrivals, and promised a 10-point EU action plan to help Italy deal with the situation.
Nearly 126,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, almost double the figure by the same date in 2022. The small island of Lampedusa has recently seen a sharp rise in the number of people arriving by boat, with more than 7,000 landing this week, more than the island's permanent population.
Von der Leyen was accompanied by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the car carrying them to Lampedusa's migrant reception centre was briefly blocked by locals protesting over the burden facing the island.
«We're working on it… we are doing our best,» Meloni told the protesters.
Following the visit to the centre, von der Leyen, who is expected to run for a second term when her mandate expires next year, set out a 10-point «action plan» to relieve pressure on Italy, where most migrants arrive from north Africa's shores by boat.
«Irregular migration is a European challenge and it needs a European response, we are in this together,» she said at a joint news conference with Meloni. «You can count on the EU,» she added in Italian.
The plan includes using the EU's external borders agency Frontex to identify migrants arriving in Italy and repatriate those not eligible for asylum.
Frontex would also step up sea and aerial surveillance of migrant boats and help crack down on people-smugglers, von der Leyen said, adding that she had already spoken to several EU leaders about the plan and was confident of their support.
She promised to speed up the supply
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