"Already three or four boats have arrived from Egypt this year," Morcone said. "Egypt could be the main worry."
Migrants
sit in a rubber dinghy during a rescue operation by SOS Mediterranee
ship Aquarius off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa in this
handout received April 18, 2016.
Italy is bracing for an expected rush of boat migrants this summer as the European Union's failed relocation programme ratchets up pressure on the country's shelter system, a top immigration official said.
Mario Morcone,
the official in charge of managing Italy's immigration system, told
Reuters that arrivals were up slightly this year over 2015, when more
than 150,000 migrants came by boat, mostly from Libya.
As
of Monday, about 25,000 boat migrants had come to Italy, compared with
just under 24,000 during the same period last year, an increase of 4.7
percent, according to the Interior Ministry.
With
calmer seas now favouring more crossings, Italy is trying to create
150,000 spots for asylum seekers and migrants in its shelters, where
112,700 are already housed.
"It's getting more and more complicated to find places and open new immigration centres," Morcone said in his office at the Interior Ministry.
According
to an EU relocation programme for refugees, up to 40,000 asylum seekers
from Syria, Eritrea and Iraq can be shifted to other member countries
over two years to help relieve pressure on Italy, a frontline state in
Europe's worst immigration crisis since World War Two.
Since
the plan took effect in October, however, Italy has found spots for
just 560 people, Morcone said, because of a lack of solidarity from
partners and the programme's focus on only the three nationalities it
specifies.
"Member states are offering only a
few spots, the procedures are very slow, and we can relocate only
Eritreans. Syrians don't come here, and nor do Iraqis," Morcone said. "On the whole, the response ... is not what had been asked for."
Turkey
and the EU last month sealed a controversial deal intended to halt
illegal migration to Greece from Turkey in return for financial and
political rewards for Ankara.
The deal aims to
shut down a short sea corridor that brought over 850,000 refugees and
migrants to Europe last year. Countries along the so-called "Balkan
route" have closed their borders to stop movement there as well.
Italy
is concerned that the migrant flow will shift after the agreement, with
more boats coming to Italy from North Africa, and especially from
Egypt.
"Already three or four boats have arrived from Egypt this year," Morcone said. "Egypt could be the main worry."
"Since
there are people blocked in Greece, we fear that there will be a bypass
either through Egypt or Albania or even from Morocco to Spain. We must
wait and see how the situation evolves."
Because
the Mediterranean sea journey to Italy mainly consists of young people
from impoverished African countries seeking a better future, Europe must
develop a long-term migrant policy focused on Africa.
"As
long as the economic divergence between us is so high, it's impossible
to convince people who suffer in some African countries not to come in
Europe. Their hopes for a future lie in getting into the Schengen area."
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