Italy threat to shut airports over inflow of migrants from Bavaria
ROME has threatened to close its airports amid reports that Germany’s southern state of Bavaria is preparing large-scale deportations of migrants to Italy.
“If anyone – in Berlin or Brussels – plans to dump off dozens of migrants with non-authorised charter flights, he should know that no airport is available, or will be,” said Italy’s farright Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
“We’re closing the airports, just like we’ve already closed the ports.”
Employees at Munich’s airport have said Bavarian authorities are planning a first large-scale deportation to Italy in the coming days of migrants who arrived at the German border but first registered in Italy.
The sources said Bavarian police are to accompany a charter flight with the migrants on board to Italy, which is responsible for their asylum applications, according to the EU’s Dublin rules. Italy’s populist government, formed in June, has adopted tough anti-immigration policies after the country became a main route for sea migrants headed to Europe.
Germany has been a popular destination for many migrants arriving in Europe, but the issue has become a hot topic in German elections, especially in Bavaria, where regional elections are to be held next weekend.
The Bavarian government has often sought stricter migration policies than the government in Berlin, including strengthening its own border police and border checks and setting up its own asylum office aimed at speeding up the deportation of rejected asylum seekers.