The difficult management of migratory flows seems to have become a problem more for the Northern European countries than for the Mediterranean ones. Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are scrambling to implement emergency measures to better control the phenomenon and appease their increasingly restless citizens, whose votes are increasingly shifting to the right. And so Berlin closed its borders, London wants to copy Giorgia Meloni's Italian model and Amsterdam would even like to request an exemption from compliance with European rules on migration.
According to some rumors published in the local press, the Dutch government may present to Brussels, possibly as early as next week, a request to opt out of the EU's asylum policy. Competent minister Marjolein Faber, a member of Geert Wilders' far-right Freedom Party, has announced her intention to declare a state of national crisis over immigration, implementing a crackdown that could include a temporary ban on the approval of asylum requests. The plan is expected to be officially announced by Prime Minister Dick Schoof, who will present details of the government's agenda today (Friday 13 September).
For its part, Germany continues its line of border closures and yesterday officially notified Brussels of its intention to establish border controls "on the basis of Article 25a (4)" of the Schengen Code "for foreseeable threats". The article provides that "when there is a serious threat to public order or the internal security of a member state, the latter may exceptionally reintroduce border control on all internal borders or on specific parts of them for a period of limited to 30 days or for the anticipated duration of the serious threat, if this exceeds 30 days". In fact, with this motivation the controls can stay for a long time, which has angered some European partners, Hungary and Greece in the lead.
"Germany is destroying Schengen, first by not forcing the member states of the European Union to effectively protect the external borders, and now by establishing internal border controls", declared the Hungarian Minister of the Interior, Gergely Gulyás. Criticism has also come from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, according to whom Berlin's move risks causing a "domino effect" that would lead to the introduction of similar border control measures in other member states.
"Germany has adopted an extremely tolerant and, I would say, socially generous policy towards immigrants, which is now causing a strong social reaction," Mitsotakis said in an interview with Greek radio. And now "the answer cannot be to unilaterally dismantle Schengen and leave the ball in the hands of the countries on Europe's outer borders," Mitsotakis said.
And the third hot front regarding irregular migrants is that of the English Channel. This weekend British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will fly to Italy to meet Meloni. Among the topics under discussion will be the management of migratory flows. The UK has already reached a £490m deal with France to pay police officers and border forces in Paris to step up efforts to stop ships trying to cross the Channel, similar to what Italy and Europe have done with Tunisia and Libya.
Starmer's Labour, however, scrapped the previous Tory government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, a plan similar, though vastly different, to that set out between Italy and Albania, and may want to take a cue from by Meloni, on her strategy. Irregular registrations are a very sensitive issue in the country. Around 22,000 people have crossed the Channel so far in 2024, more than in the same period last year, but less than in 2022. In total, more than 135,000 people have arrived in the UK via this route which from 2018.