Listhaug will consider all measures to stop boat refugees
The Italian Government is considering allowing refugees to travel from Italy to northern Europe. Minister for Immigration, Sylvi Listhaug (Frp), thinks that is unacceptable.
– If Italy does this, we must consider all measures to stop these migrants from coming to Norway. We can not let them dictate the rest of Europe by unleashing hundreds of thousands of migrants, many of them illegal, into the rest of Europe and, among other places, Norway, says Listhaug to Dagens Næringsliv.
A total of 86,000 boat refugees have been rescued in Italy this year. There are 200,000 refugees in different camps in the country and the quarell between Italy and neighbouring countries in the EU is a problem.
‘The Times’ recently wrote that senior Italian politicians consider imposing a seldomly used EU rule to force neighboring countries in Europe to receive some of the refugees.
Representatives of the authorities have stated that they are discussing an opportunity to issue temporary Schengen visas to refugees. The EU Observer website states that such an arrangement can not come into force until a majority of the EU Council of Ministers advocates it.
None the less, Listhaug believes that there are dramatic steps being considered by Italy.
– If it is true that Italy wants to grant visas to hundreds of thousands of migrants, regardless of any need for protection, it will have huge consequences for Europe as a whole. There may also be many coming to Norway in such a situation. That is not acceptable, the Minister for Immigration concludes.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
