In the light of the tragedies at sea — most recently within the last few days — involving Libyans attempting to reach the Italian coast, the danger of new waves of migration to Italy, of which the Libyan Foreign Minister warned his Italian opposite number some time ago, is becoming more real.
The Commission claims to be worried about the situation in the South of the EU, but that is plainly not enough.
1. Frontex is said to be ready to support Italy at the operational level in 2012 and is planning to redeploy experts and technical resources on a flexible basis should there be any sudden mass influx of irregular migrants and asylum-seekers. Operation Hermes was due to restart on 1 July 2012. Is the operation now under way?
2. Italy is said to be one of the largest recipients under the External Borders Fund, the Return Fund, and the European Refugee Fund. How much is it receiving?
3. What specific urgent measures will the Commission take to halt the traffic in migrants from the Libyan coast?