Meloni Method— Italian PM Celebrated as Illegal Migration Falls by 64% Over the Past Year
Dividends have started to pay off for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s migration strategy, as recent figures show a near two-thirds reduction in illegal arrivals compared to last year.
According to statistics released this week by the Italian Interior Ministry, 41,530 illegal immigrants have arrived on Italy's shores since the beginning of the year. While this number remains historically high, it marks a 64% decrease from the 114,513 illegal migrants recorded during the same period last year, which saw a significant surge in arrivals across the Mediterranean from North Africa, especially Tunisia. The figures also indicate a decline compared to 2022, a year still impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.
There has been a notable decrease in the number of unaccompanied minors arriving, with 5,044 recorded so far this year compared to 18,820 in 2023.
Despite facing criticism both domestically and internationally for not implementing a more hardline approach to illegal migration, Meloni has opted for diplomatic solutions through EU mechanisms. She has worked closely with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen to negotiate agreements with countries such as Tunisia and Egypt, aimed at curbing people smuggling networks in exchange for European aid.
Deals with Tunisia and Libya have also contributed to the reduction in illegal migration, with 5,000 migrants repatriated to Libya and 4,000 to Tunisia since January.
Additionally, Meloni has negotiated a bilateral agreement with Albania to establish asylum processing centers, allowing claims to be processed abroad rather than in Italy. Although this deal is yet to come into effect, the potential for migrants to be sent to Albania has been credited with deterring further illegal arrivals.
Meloni’s government has also taken steps to strengthen domestic laws, including imposing stricter penalties for people smugglers and migrant boat captains, limiting the right to work for certain asylum seekers, and targeting pro-open borders NGOs accused of assisting smugglers in transporting migrants to Europe.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, an ally of Deputy PM Matteo Salvini, has described the government’s approach as a “360-degree strategy” aimed at reducing illegal immigration. Piantedosi recently stated that the next focus will be on launching “financial investigations to combat the criminal organizations involved in migrant trafficking.”
While Meloni’s strategy appears to be effective in Italy, it has been accompanied by a rise in illegal migration to other Mediterranean EU countries. According to France’s Le Figaro, landings have surged by 155% in Spain and 222% in Greece this year.
Meloni’s relative success has bolstered her support, with her Brothers of Italy party capturing 28.8% of the vote in June’s European Parliament elections—an impressive fourfold increase from 2019 and surpassing the 26% achieved in the 2022 Italian elections. By leading her party in the EU elections, Meloni has solidified her position as a key figure in Brussels, now heading the third-largest coalition within the bloc.
In response to Italy’s improved immigration situation, Marion Maréchal, an MEP in Meloni’s European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and niece of French populist leader Marine Le Pen, commented on X: “The Meloni method works! Against immigration, there is no inevitability; we can act to stop the arrival of migrants on European shores.”