Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni does not consider the EU asylum reform to be a sustainable solution for curbing irregular migration to Europe.
The EU member states and the European Parliament agreed on a reform of the common European asylum system before the turn of the year after a long battle.
Distribution of migrants among EU member states is to be reorganized. If countries do not want to take in refugees, they must provide support, for example in the form of monetary payments. Standardized border procedures and accommodation for migrants was also agreed.
"I think the new rules are better than the previous ones," the far-right leader said on Thursday at a news conference in Rome. "But it is not a solution. We will never solve the problem if we think about how we deal with migrants when they arrive in Europe."
Italy lies across the Mediterranean from Tunisia and Libya, one of the main starting points for illegal migrants trying to cross the sea to enter the EU. Italy therefore receives substantially more asylum seekers than most other EU nations.
According to figures from the Ministry of the Interior in Rome, around 157,650 arrived illegally in Italy by sea last year. That is around 50,000 more than in the previous year.
People repeatedly try to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa near North Africa as well as Sicily or the Italian mainland.
"I consider the data on migration to be unsatisfactory, especially in view of the work I have dedicated to this issue," Meloni said.
Meloni, at a press conference postponed from the end of the year due to illness, once again made it clear that she believes people must be prevented from coming to Europe in the first place.
She wants agreements with countries of origin to ensure that people do not make the journey to Europe.
As the country chairing the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations this year, Italy wants to focus on migration and Africa.
