Tag Archives: Roberto Maroni

by | 11 May 2010 · 14:29

Maroni: Migration Agreement with Libya is a Success

During an interview yesterday, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni again described the bi-lateral migration agreement between Italy and Libya as effective saying that 850 migrants were successfully intercepted and returned last year.  He contrasted the 850 intercepted migrants with the 37,000 migrants who reached Italian shores in the previous year.  He said that the thousands of would be migrants who have been prevented from reaching Italy have been stopped by Libyan authorities in Libya.  He described this as the “fruit of the cooperation agreement with Libya.” (E’ il frutto dell’accordo di cooperazione fra Italia e Libia.”)

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by | 11 May 2010 · 04:38

Italy Will Try to Convince Malta to Resume Frontex Patrols

A bi-lateral meeting between Italy and Malta is scheduled for Thursday, 13 May.  Italy’s Interior Minister Roberto Maroni reportedly has said that he will try to convince Malta to recommit to the Frontex sea patrols.  Maroni expressed concern that the lack of participation by Malta in the patrols will have negative consequences because it will create a break in what was a united front in the Mediterranean.

Click here (EN) and here (IT) for articles.

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by | 17 Apr 2010 · 16:38

Maroni: Italy’s Push-Back Agreement with Libya Has Resolved Italy’s Migrant Problem

Roberto Maroni, Italy’s Interior Minister, speaking to the Italian Parliament’s Schengen Committee, said that as a result of Italy’s 2009 push-back agreement with Italy, migratory flows have been mostly diverted to the west to Spain and to the east to Greece.  According to Maroni, to the extent that migrants are reaching Italy by sea, they are doing so by routes from Tunisia and other countries, but not from Libya.  Maroni said that “this resolves Italy’s problem, but not Europe’s problem.” [“Questo risolve i problemi dell’Itala, ma non dell’Europa.”]

According to Maroni there has been a 96% decrease in the arrival of irregular migrants in Italy over the first three months of 2010 compared with the same period last year: from 1 January to 4 April there have reportedly been 170 arrivals compared with 4,573 arrivals over the same period in 2009.

Maroni praised the push-back agreement by saying “We’ve had 28,000 fewer arrivals [since its May 2009 implementation] and we’ve saved countless lives. It’s an unprecedented and concrete achievement which is the result of Berlusconi’s diplomacy and the agreement he struck with Libya.”.

Click here (IT) and here (EN) for articles.

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by | 26 Feb 2010 · 05:02

Italy Warns that Libya May Suspend Bi-Lateral Migration Agreement

Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said that the Swiss – Libya visa dispute which has resulted in a Libyan decision to stop issuing visas to nationals of the Schengen zone may result in Libya halting its cooperation with Italy under the terms of the two countries’ bi-lateral migration agreement.

“Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of European Union interior ministers, …  Maroni said the row put the Schengen zone at risk and could further strain relations with Libya. Cooperation by Tripoli in controlling immigration to the EU was one issue, he said. ‘The fear is in part that … Libya could weaken its border controls concerning illegal immigration.’”

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by | 11 Feb 2010 · 04:10

New Patrol Boats for Libya and Malta

Italy has delivered to Libya three patrol boats pursuant to the terms of Italy’s bi-lateral agreement with Libya to control irregular immigration.  The three boats that were turned over to Libya in a ceremony attended by Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni supplement three patrol boats which were delivered by Italy earlier.

Maroni spoke at the ceremony and said “Italy and Libya alone cannot carry the burden of a migration problem that touches the whole of Europe.  … [The European Commission] has not done much to date [on the migration issue].  In recent days I travelled to Ghana and Niger to sign bilateral accords and it is the first time these countries sign such agreements [on immigration] with a European state. This shows Italy is taking a leading role.”

And unrelated to the new Libyan boats, four new Armed Forces of Malta patrol boats were scheduled to arrive on Wednesday in Malta from Australia.  The new patrol boats cost €9.3m and were funded in part by the EU.

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by | 09 Feb 2010 · 19:40

Italy’s “Africa Campaign”: Stop Migrants in Countries of Origin

Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has completed a visit to Ghana and is now in Niger.  A trip to Senegal will occur soon.  In Ghana he signed an agreement to increase cooperation on combating illegal immigration, human trafficking, and other forms of organized crime.

Maroni is quoted as saying ”We have excellent bilateral agreements with the African countries of the Mediterranean region, from Morocco to Egypt. However, these are often transit countries for illegal immigrants who in reality originate in sub-Saharan African states. This is why now, while awaiting action from Europe, we want to extend security measures to that area not only regarding immigration, but also regarding the issues of drug trafficking and terrorism.”

ANSAmed reported that Maroni said Italy’s agreement with Libya has reduced the numbers of illegal migrants arriving in Italy and that “[n]ow the focus is to completely eliminate their arrival by blocking the departure of these ‘journeys of hope’.”

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