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Italy, France to patrol Tunisian coast against migrants

08 April 2011, 23:09 CET
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(MILAN) - Italy and France agreed Friday to carry out joint patrols off Tunisia's coast to block migrants headed for Europe, with the French interior minister saying there was no duty to take in boat people.

Following the arrival of thousands of migrants from the ex-French colony, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said at the meeting with his French counterpart Claude Gueant that there would now be "joint air and sea patrols".

"Neither Italy nor France has a duty to host the migrants," the French minister said, while Maroni called for "joint action" by Europe on immigration.

The EU's border control agency Frontex in Warsaw told AFP it had not received any formal request but said the Italy-led mission was already patrolling that part of the Mediterranean until August.

A diplomatic row erupted between Rome and Paris after Italy on Thursday agreed to grant six-month residence permits to more than 20,000 mostly Tunisian migrants and said this would allow them to travel to France.

Many of the French-speaking migrants landing on the Italian island of Lampedusa in recent weeks say they want to go to France, which is turning back hundreds trying to cross from the Italian border town of Ventimiglia.

Gueant earlier said that France did not want to "suffer a wave" of migrants and stressed that even those armed with permits would not be allowed to enter France if they did not have identity papers and sufficient funds.

The European Commission called on France and Italy to "get over the dispute" and come together towards a "European solution."

Gueant said on Friday: "We have agreed on the interpretation of the Schengen treaty," adding there was "complete agreement with Roberto Maroni".

"It's clear that the residence permits the Italians will give allow freedom of movement but this is limited by the conditions defined by the treaty."

Gueant also said Italy and France would grant Tunisia economic aid.

The EU's Schengen visa-free zone -- which includes all of the European Union member states except for Britain and Ireland -- has gradually eased internal border controls within Europe while beefing up external borders.

Germany also waded into the debate, saying Italy's move to grant temporary residence permits was "a blow to the spirit of Schengen".

German interior ministry spokesman Jens Teschke also said: "We believe that Italy is not overcrowded. We should maybe underline that Germany has welcomed six times the number of asylum seekers than Italy in recent years."

A total of 25,800 undocumented migrants on 390 boats have arrived in Italy so far this year, including around 21,000 who said they were from Tunisia.

Many of the Tunisians said they were fleeing a dire economic situation after the ouster of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January.

Several commentators have argued that France's intransigence over the migrants was dictated by the rise of the far-right National Front.

Party leader Marine Le Pen has been put ahead of French President Nicolas Sarkozy in some recent opinion polls for the 2012 election.

Immigration is set to top the agenda at a summit between Sarkozy and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome on April 26.

Maroni struck a deal with Tunisia this week under which migrants who have already arrived will receive permits but any new arrivals will be deported under a new arrangement that facilitates expulsions.

A first plane left Lampedusa Thursday carrying some 30 migrant deportees.

Italy has also agreed to provide Tunisia with boats and jeeps to step up its coastal patrols and prevent more migrants from leaving its coasts.


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