Among the new moves will be the extension of detention ahead of repatriations, new migrant pre-removal detention centres (CPRs) in ‘low-impact’ areas, and keeping a close eye on EU commitments especially regarding a landmark deal with Tunisia.

Italy will “closely follow” the commitments on migrants made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on her visit to Lampedusa Sunday, and especially her pledge to free up cash for a landmark deal with Tunisia, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reportedly said after the cabinet approved the migrant emergency package, according to sources at the meeting.

Meloni had said alongside von der Leyen, whom she invited to Lampedusa, that the emergency had placed Italy under “unsustainable pressure”.

“The government will follow with great attention, step by step, the commitments that Europe has undertaken with Italy, starting with the commitment to quickly release the resources provided for in the Memorandum with Tunisia,” she said.

The memorandum signed by Meloni, von der Leyen and Dutch PM Mark Rutte with President Kais Saied in mid-July provides for a “strategic and comprehensive partnership” aimed at combatting irregular migration and boosting economic ties between the bloc and the North African country, which lies on a major route for migrants and refugees travelling to Europe.

Von der Leyen also said there was the possibility of a fresh naval mission to curb migrant smugglers, in a 10-point plan she unveiled at Lampedusa.

Meloni stressed, “The presence of President von der Leyen in Lampedusa yesterday is very important also from a symbolic point of view.

“The presence of Europe at the borders most exposed to mass illegal immigration underlines that those of Lampedusa are not only Italian borders but also European ones.”

Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost tip, lies closer to Tunisia than to the Italian mainland.

Monday’s package extends the maximum length of time it is possible to detain migrants who are set to be repatriated, making them ineligible for asylum for 18 months.

On Friday Meloni had said the maximum time that asylum seekers can be kept at reception centres would remain at 12 months.

Meloni on Monday denied that the planned new pre-removal detention centres (CPRs) for migrants and asylum seekers who are not eligible to remain in Italy will create unease and insecurity in cities.

“Today we will mandate the Defence Ministry to build facilities to detain illegal immigrants as quickly as possible,” Meloni reportedly said during a cabinet meeting on the migrant emergency.

“Years of pro-immigration policies have meant that there are very few places available in CPRs in Italy today,” she continued.

“The new CPRs that will be built must be in locations with very low population density and that are easy to fence off and to monitor. They will not create further malaise and insecurity in the cities,” added Meloni.

The provisions for the creation of new pre-removal detention facilities and to extend the maximum length of time it is possible to detain migrants pending repatriation are to be included in a decree containing measures benefitting southern regions, which was approved by the government last week but has not yet been published in the official gazzette.

The ruling centre-right coalition shares a common vision on how to tackle the increase in migrants and refugees arriving in Italy from north Africa, Meloni reportedly told her cabinet.

“I would like to express great satisfaction at the unity and great teamwork of the entire government in dealing with the immigration emergency and finding concrete solutions to the strong pressure exerted by the flows of irregular immigrants on our coasts,” sources reported Meloni as saying.

“It is the confirmation that, on these issues as on many others, the entire centre-right has the same vision and that everyone is working in the same direction, despite what some are trying to say,” she added.

Meloni said this sense of united purpose was less the case in some Italian and European leftwing circles, which she accused of “rowing against” the government’s migration policies.

Meloni accused EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell and parties of the Left in Italy and the rest of Europe of working against solutions to stop the arrival of large numbers of migrants.

The reference to Borrell is linked to a letter he reportedly sent on September 7 to Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi criticising the adoption of the Memorandum of Understanding with Tunisia for cooperation in stemming the flow of migrants from the coast of the North African country.

Meloni was highly instrumental in bringing about the agreement.

“I am sorry to see some Italian and European political parties are rowing in the opposite direction and doing everything they can to dismantle the work that is being done because of ideological reasons or, worse still, political calculations,” Meloni said, according to the sources.

“I am referring to the letter of the High Representative for European Foreign Policy Borrell, to the appeals made by the European Socialists, and to the positions taken by various members of the Left (against the MOU).

“All these actions go in the same direction, trying to argue that no North African country is a safe State with which it is possible to agree to stop departures or to repatriate illegal immigrants.

“Basically, the European Left wants to make mass illegal immigration unavoidable.”

ANSA