In the future, the Federal Government wants to take in every fourth refugee who arrives in Italy via the Mediterranean. Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" said: "I have always said that our migration policy is also humane and that we will not let anyone drown." If everything stays as discussed, "we can take over 25 percent of those rescued from distress that are emerging from Italy, which will not overwhelm our migration policies."
The Federal Government has already taken over about a quarter of the rescued from Italy. Nothing changes on this key, Seehofer said. But it was high time to say goodbye to the "agonizing procedure" in which refugees had to be distributed individually over Europe in each of the incoming rescue vessels. In the past twelve months, 561 boat people came to Germany via Italy, according to the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
Search for European solution
There may be some progress in finding a way to distribute boat people across the EU. On 23 September, Malta invited representatives of Germany, France, Italy, EU Council President Finland and the EU Commission to the Maltese town of Vittoriosa to find a provisional quota system. The proposal will be submitted to the European Council in October. "The expectation is that more states will join," said Seehofer.
Italy and Malta had recently repeatedly banned vessels with rescued migrants from entering their ports. The people then often had to endure for several weeks on the ships.
