Germany Suspends Migrant Intake from Italy

Germany will not be taking in migrants from Italy under a voluntary solidarity pact until further notice, the country’s interior ministry said on Wednesday.

The agreement would have seen Germany take in 3,500 asylum seekers who had first entered the EU in Italy. This was meant to alleviate the situation in Italy {snip}

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The decision had been taken due to “the currently high migratory pressure on Germany,” a spokesperson for the interior ministry told German newspaper WELT.

This pressure is in part caused by Italy’s refusal to take back migrants from Germany in line with the so-called Dublin regulations, according to the ministry.

Under EU law, the member state that asylum seekers first enter is responsible for their asylum applications. This means thousands of migrants who have moved on from Italy to Germany have to be returned to Italy.

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