58
quotas for the number of refugees each was to accept, the eastern European states
refused to accept their quotas (Kanter 2017). All of this was notwithstanding that
once an applicant’s refugee status was approved, he or she could move elsewhere.
In contrast, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, recalling German’s prior culpability in creating refugees during and after World War II, announced that Germany
would open its borders to all refugees (Holehouse et al. 2015). The other European
countries directed refugees to Germany so that approximately 1,200,000 asylum applications were received in Germany in 2015 and 2016, out of about 2,500,000 for the
entire EU for those years (Bennhold et al. 2015). This produced a political backlash
against Merkel, leading to the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party (Eddy
and Bennhold 2019). In didn’t help that some small percentage of refugees committed
highly visible crimes, discrediting all refugees in the eyes of many (Eddy 2019).
In Italy, the number of asylum applications surged in 2016 to 123,000, putting
Italy in second place, well behind Germany (AIDA 2017). The number of asylum
seekers in all Europe fell back to 300,000 after the EU agreed to pay Turkey’s
expenses for holding migrants in Turkey (Winsor 2016). Yet even the figure of
300,000, widely considered tolerable before 2015, now seemed intolerable
(Kingsley 2018). Instead, demagogues across the continent used fear of refugees
(and other migrants) to consolidate their power, with Brexit serving as only the most
extravagant example (Brubaker 2017). Erdoğan notably threatened to release the
migrants again as a response to European criticism of his attack on the Kurds in
northern Syria in 2019 (Gall 2019).
The deal with Erdoğan did not affect the flow of people across the Mediterranean
from Libya and Tunisia, so the presence and treatment of migrants (whether refugees or otherwise) became a prominent feature of Italian politics after 2015
(Horowitz 2019b). Under the leadership of Matteo Salvini, Minister of the Interior
and leader of la Liga, Italy imposed severely tightened restrictions on who could
apply for or receive asylum there—in clear violation of Italian laws and EU regulations. As of 2019, only three narrow classes of people were considered for asylum
in Italy: persons who had suffered labor exploitation in Italy; victims of human trafficking; and people fleeing natural disasters (Senato della Repubblica 2018). Instead,
Italy (and other Mediterranean states) undertook to intercept boats of migrants at
sea to bar their landing in the EU and force them back to North Africa (Specia
2019), often with tragic results (Momigliano 2019; Momigiano and Minder 2019).
Whether this situation will change with the (at least temporary) fall of Salvini from
power remains to be seen (Horowitz 2019a).
6 The Duty to Save Lives at Sea
Italy’s government refuses to allow derelict vessels to land if they carry migrants,
whether refugees or not. As a result, significant numbers of people drown in the
Mediterranean trying to reach Europe (Momigliano 2019). Italy is ignoring its
duties under the 1951 Convention and under EU and Italian law, but arguably
J. W. Dellapenna
quotas for the number of refugees each was to accept, the eastern European states
refused to accept their quotas (Kanter 2017). All of this was notwithstanding that
once an applicant’s refugee status was approved, he or she could move elsewhere.
In contrast, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, recalling German’s prior culpability in creating refugees during and after World War II, announced that Germany
would open its borders to all refugees (Holehouse et al. 2015). The other European
countries directed refugees to Germany so that approximately 1,200,000 asylum applications were received in Germany in 2015 and 2016, out of about 2,500,000 for the
entire EU for those years (Bennhold et al. 2015). This produced a political backlash
against Merkel, leading to the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party (Eddy
and Bennhold 2019). In didn’t help that some small percentage of refugees committed
highly visible crimes, discrediting all refugees in the eyes of many (Eddy 2019).
In Italy, the number of asylum applications surged in 2016 to 123,000, putting
Italy in second place, well behind Germany (AIDA 2017). The number of asylum
seekers in all Europe fell back to 300,000 after the EU agreed to pay Turkey’s
expenses for holding migrants in Turkey (Winsor 2016). Yet even the figure of
300,000, widely considered tolerable before 2015, now seemed intolerable
(Kingsley 2018). Instead, demagogues across the continent used fear of refugees
(and other migrants) to consolidate their power, with Brexit serving as only the most
extravagant example (Brubaker 2017). Erdoğan notably threatened to release the
migrants again as a response to European criticism of his attack on the Kurds in
northern Syria in 2019 (Gall 2019).
The deal with Erdoğan did not affect the flow of people across the Mediterranean
from Libya and Tunisia, so the presence and treatment of migrants (whether refugees or otherwise) became a prominent feature of Italian politics after 2015
(Horowitz 2019b). Under the leadership of Matteo Salvini, Minister of the Interior
and leader of la Liga, Italy imposed severely tightened restrictions on who could
apply for or receive asylum there—in clear violation of Italian laws and EU regulations. As of 2019, only three narrow classes of people were considered for asylum
in Italy: persons who had suffered labor exploitation in Italy; victims of human trafficking; and people fleeing natural disasters (Senato della Repubblica 2018). Instead,
Italy (and other Mediterranean states) undertook to intercept boats of migrants at
sea to bar their landing in the EU and force them back to North Africa (Specia
2019), often with tragic results (Momigliano 2019; Momigiano and Minder 2019).
Whether this situation will change with the (at least temporary) fall of Salvini from
power remains to be seen (Horowitz 2019a).
6 The Duty to Save Lives at Sea
Italy’s government refuses to allow derelict vessels to land if they carry migrants,
whether refugees or not. As a result, significant numbers of people drown in the
Mediterranean trying to reach Europe (Momigliano 2019). Italy is ignoring its
duties under the 1951 Convention and under EU and Italian law, but arguably
J. W. Dellapenna