19/06/2023

We need to address the migration phenomenon not as an emergency but as a structural phenomenon that as such needs to be governed with systematic and coordinated strategies. It is the responsibility of the Italian government and the entire EU to act’. Says Roberto Ridolfi, President of LINK 2007, commenting on the shipwreck of migrants that occurred last 14 June off the Greek coast. About 650 victims now, many of them minors: the biggest tragedy in the Mediterranean.

“LINK 2007 has already intervened with concrete and articulate proposals published and sent to the attention of the institutions,” Roberto Ridolfi underlines. The document ‘Governance of immigration and cooperation with countries of origin‘, drawn up last March by LINK 2007, aims to lay the foundations for a new approach to migration policies and the management of refugees and asylum seekers. “As LINK 2007 has repeatedly pointed out, in order to tackle the reality of migration, it is essential to move away from the emergency logic and initiate a constructive and lasting confrontation between institutions and civil society organisations capable of providing knowledge and concrete proposals.

The umpteenth tragedy at sea reinforces the urgency of concrete and global action by States and the EU to reduce irregular immigration and favour regular and safe immigration. The LINK 2007 position paper aims to contribute to defining both effective and shared policies to govern migration flows and reception; and policies of partnership and development cooperation with the main countries of origin. Faced with the perpetuation of deaths, exploitation, and shipwrecks, a profound rethinking of current policies and regulations by government institutions is indispensable

Roberto Ridolfi, LINK 2007 President

Here  the position paper