Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Friday called for the European Union (EU) to set up centres to process migrants’ asylum claims in their home countries, a proposal backed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We should create European centres in the countries of departure,” Mr. Conte said at a joint press conference with Mr. Macron, referring to African nations that have seen an exodus towards Europe. His comments were echoed by Mr. Macron, who told reporters he supported the idea of “branches of our asylum agencies to tackle this question on the other side” of the Mediterranean.
Needed: "profound reforms"
Mr. Macron urged greater solidarity with Rome over the migrant crisis, calling for “profound reforms” of EU asylum rules known as the Dublin regulation.
Those rules have placed a huge burden on Mediterranean countries, Italy in particular, as they require migrants to claim for asylum in the first European country they enter.