In the past 14 months, 225 boat people have been picked up from the central Mediterranean route in Germany. In view of this assessment, Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) is resisting the criticism of the agreement with Italy and Malta, which also came from the ranks of the Union. The debate in Germany was in view of the low number of arrivals "actually shameful," said Seehofer at the meeting of EU interior ministers in Luxembourg.
At the same time Seehofer made it clear that he would get out of the agreement, if the refugee numbers increased abruptly. The agreement of Malta also includes a clause against the abuse by smugglers, said Seehofer. "So, if hundreds out of hundreds today may become thousands, then tomorrow I can state that the emergency mechanism is over, and I would."
Germany, France, Italy and Malta had agreed on 23 September on a "temporary solidarity mechanism". A group of EU member states is expected to agree for six months to take boaters rescued from distress to Italy and Malta. Rome and Valletta, in turn, agreed to reopen their ports for aid vessels with refugees.
So far, however, no other states have officially joined the agreement, which will run until the end of March. Luxembourg's Secretary of State for Europe, Amélie de Montchalin, said in Luxembourg that "about ten" countries wanted to participate. But this must be confirmed, she said. The aim of the meeting of the EU interior ministers is also "not to create an exact number, but to create a dynamic".
Luxembourg promises participation
Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn promised to participate. But he did not want to get involved in a fixed distribution quota: "First we have to know how many states are willing to help," he told the newspapers of the editorial network Germany. "After that we can talk about the distribution rate, the more countries that join in, the fewer people have to be admitted per state."
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos called for a solution after at least 13 women died from capsizing a refugee boat earlier this week off the Italian island of Lampedusa. Other people are still missing. "We can not continue like this," said Avramopoulos. "We need a permanent mechanism."
Originally Seehofer wanted to clarify details of the agreement at the EU interior ministers meeting, such as a fixed admission rate. Now he said that it had been "from the outset" clear "that there are no decisions today".
