Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday that she had hoped to do "better" on controlling irregular migration, which has surged since her far-right party won historic elections a year ago.
"Clearly we hoped for better on immigration, where we worked so hard," Ms Meloni admitted to the TG1 channel.
"The results are not what we hoped to see. It is certainly a very complex problem but I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it."
Ms Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy party was elected in large part on a promise to reduce mass migration into Italy.
But the number of people arriving on boats from North Africa has surged, with more than 130,000 recorded by the Interior Ministry so far this year, up from 70,000 in the same period of 2022.
After 8,500 people arrived on the tiny island of Lampedusa in only three days this month, Ms Meloni demanded that the EU do more to help relieve the pressure.
Brussels agreed to increase efforts, and this week said it would start to release money to Tunisia, from which many of the boats leave, under a pact aimed at stemming irregular migration.
But Ms Meloni's main coalition partner, Matteo Salvini of the anti-immigration League party, has been dismissive of EU efforts to manage the surge of arrivals, which he called an "act of war".
Italy migrant boat tragedy - in pictures
The League this weekend also condemned Germany for funding an NGO conducting at-sea rescues in the Mediterranean, saying it represented "very serious interference" in Italian affairs.
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, a member of Ms Meloni's party, on Sunday, told La Stampa newspaper the move put Italy "in difficulty".
"If Germany cared about the fate of people in difficulty and really wanted to help us save lives, they could help … to seriously combat criminals who traffic people," he said in a statement on Sunday evening.
Several charity rescue ships operate in the Central Mediterranean, the world's deadliest sea crossing for migrants, although they only pick up about five per cent of arrivals to Italy, Mr Crosetto said.
The German Foreign Office confirmed it was providing between €400,000 ($426,000) and €800,000 each to two projects, "for the support on land in Italy of people rescued at sea and an NGO project for sea-rescue operations".
While interior minister in a previous government in 2019, Mr Salvini blocked several charity ships from landing rescued migrants in Italy, a move that saw him prosecuted in Sicily on charges of kidnapping.
Since taking office in October, Ms Meloni's government has restricted the activities of the ships, which it accuses of encouraging migrants, while vowing to clamp down on people smugglers.
It has also sought to boost repatriation of arrivals ineligible for asylum, including by building detention centres and extending the time migrants can be held there.
It emerged this week it would also be requiring migrants awaiting a decision on asylum to pay a deposit of €5,000 or be sent to a detention centre, prompting accusations that the state was charging "protection money".
The centre-left Democratic Party said last week that "on immigration, the Italian right has failed".
"It continues on a path that is demagogic and consciously cynical, but above all totally ineffective both in the respect and safeguarding of human rights and for the protection of Italy's interests," it said in a note.
The criticism of Germany comes after Berlin temporarily stopped accepting migrants living in Italy, after Rome suspended EU rules governing the distribution of migrants.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.
Stat of the day - 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.
The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227 for four at the close.
About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
TRAINING FOR TOKYO
A typical week's training for Sebastian, who is competing at the ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon on March 8-9:
- Four swim sessions (14km)
- Three bike sessions (200km)
- Four run sessions (45km)
- Two strength and conditioning session (two hours)
- One session therapy session at DISC Dubai
- Two-three hours of stretching and self-maintenance of the body
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
For more information go to www.abudhabi.triathlon.org.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Floward%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERiyadh%2C%20Saudi%20Arabia%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbdulaziz%20Al%20Loughani%20and%20Mohamed%20Al%20Arifi%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EE-commerce%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbout%20%24200%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAljazira%20Capital%2C%20Rainwater%20Partners%2C%20STV%20and%20Impact46%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2C200%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
