Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has rejected claims that Italy’s migration policy is backfiring after a growing number of EU countries began returning migrants to Italy under the bloc’s new Migration and Asylum Pact. Centre-left Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein described the situation as a “boomerang” for the government.
Schlein argued that Italy’s approach to migration was now leaving the country exposed to increased pressure from other European states. Meloni strongly disputed that assessment on Friday, saying the new European rules would instead give Italy greater protection as a country on the EU’s external border.
“Elly Schlein speaks of a ‘boomerang’ and of an alleged government failure in managing migrants,” Meloni said. “But before spreading propaganda, it would be useful to understand the difference between the issues being discussed.”
Netherlands joins countries returning migrants
The Netherlands said on Friday that it would begin returning to Italy migrants who arrived after June 12, when the EU’s new Migration and Asylum Pact came into force. The Dutch decision follows similar moves by Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland and Sweden.
Under the new rules, migrants who entered Italy after June 12 can be transferred back to the country of first entry when Italy is responsible for processing their asylum claim.
The Netherlands’ decision was announced after Dutch Asylum Minister Bart van den Brink met Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi this week. Dutch media quoted a ministry spokeswoman as saying that the Netherlands would begin applying the new rules from scratch, meaning migrants who entered before June 12 would not be covered by the new transfer arrangements.
The development has reignited an old argument over the so-called Dublin system, under which the country responsible for an asylum seeker’s entry into the EU can be required to examine their application.
For Italy, which receives large numbers of migrants arriving across the Mediterranean, responsibility for people registered as entering through the country has long been a major political issue.
Meloni says new pact protects Italy
Meloni argued that the new Migration and Asylum Pact represents an improvement for Italy rather than a failure of its migration policy.
“Schengen and the Pact on Migration and Asylum are two completely different things and have nothing to do with each other,” she said.
She said the new rules provide greater protection for countries of first entry and claimed that Italy had successfully pushed for stronger application of the concept of a “safe third country”. According to the prime minister, this should make it easier for European countries to carry out accelerated returns in cases where asylum claims do not meet the necessary criteria.
“The new Pact marks a positive turning point for Italy in the management of so-called ‘Dubliner’ migrants,” Meloni said. She also highlighted the number of requests for migrant transfers made to Italy that her government has rejected.
“From 2023 to today, Italy has rejected approximately 80,000 requests for admission from other member states,” she said.
Meloni argued that the figure demonstrated that Italy had not simply accepted demands from its European partners.
“This government has opposed the application of rules that senselessly penalise us,” she said. “It is thanks to this government’s firmness that Italy has not simply passively accepted everything other states asked of us.”
She then turned the criticism towards the opposition, asking what a centre-left government would have done. “It would likely have accepted those requests, further increasing the pressure on our reception system and creating even more problems in managing migration flows,” she said.
Dispute over Schengen controls
The political argument has also become entangled with a separate dispute over Schengen. Schlein and other centre-left politicians have sought to link the government’s migration policy with Italy’s decision to suspend Schengen rules following the recent Ceuta crisis, after which Spain responded with its own measures.
Meloni rejected the connection, insisting that Schengen arrangements and the Migration and Asylum Pact concern different areas of European policy. The prime minister’s comments come as migration remains one of the most politically divisive issues in Italy and across the EU – boomerang or not.
Meloni came to power in 2022 promising a tougher approach to irregular migration, and her government has made reducing arrivals and increasing returns central elements of its European policy.
The new EU pact, meanwhile, is intended to create a more coordinated system for managing asylum applications and responsibility between member states.
For Italy, the practical consequences are likely to become clearer as countries begin applying the new transfer arrangements.
The Netherlands’ decision to return eligible migrants to Italy is therefore significant, but it also illustrates the dilemma at the heart of the new system: rules designed to share responsibility for asylum claims may also mean that countries such as Italy have to accept responsibility for people who first entered the EU through their territory.
