Between 20,000 and 25,000 migrants were expected, but this immigration peak never occurred. “There are no hordes of migrants in the city,” assured Jean-Claude Guibal, Deputy Mayor of Menton. For Dominique Paillé, President of the OFII: “Immigration cannot accommodate saber-rattling and grand speeches.”
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“Nothing would be more petty and short-sighted on the part of each EU member than to retreat into oneself in response to the problems posed by the riots in North Africa and the risk of frantic and desperate migration to our shores,” declared the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano.
“The response,” he added, “must be one of strong commitment to cooperation for the development of countries in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean. As more developed and wealthy countries, we must show responsibility and farsighted generosity.
And this not only to be in accordance with the principles and values of solidarity, but also because we must understand that it is in our own interest to embrace a future that has already begun.”
A reform of the Schengen agreement on cross-border free movement, not its abolition. From the Italy-France bilateral summit, this message goes to Europe. The EU’s response: “You cannot suspend Schengen; clarifications are needed to avoid misunderstandings.”
“None of us wants to deny or abolish the Schengen agreement, but in exceptional circumstances, we believe there should be changes which we have agreed to work on together,” said Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during a press conference at Villa Madama with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
“We want the Schengen Treaty to stay alive, but it must be reformed to stay alive,” declared Nicolas Sarkozy.
“France does not want to exit Schengen. What France is asking for is a review of the safeguard clauses so that in particular situations, we can establish national border controls as soon as there are exceptional situations” (Henri Guaino, Special Advisor to Nicolas Sarkozy).
From the side of the Catholic Church, after Pope Benedict XVI’s call in his Easter message “For the many exiles and refugees coming from different African countries… may everyone’s solidarity be manifest!”, here is the statement from Monsignor Domenico Mogavero, Bishop of Mazara (diocese where the island of Lampedusa is located) who is also a member of the Commission for Migrants of the Episcopal Conference.
He commented on the diplomatic quarrel between Italy and France regarding the validity of Schengen Area travel permits temporarily granted by Italy to Tunisian migrants: “May France and Italy overcome their selfishness! In light of this humanitarian emergency, we should forget exclusively legal criteria and each other’s interests to consider that those knocking at our door are not doing it for personal pleasure or to disturb us but to request a future worthy of the human condition.”
The Diocese of Nice has informed us that no official statement is planned on this issue at the moment.
