Italy’s cabinet declared a state of immigration emergency on Tuesday after a “significant increase” in the flow of immigrants in the Mediterranean, Reuters reported.

The state of emergency will be supported by initial funding of €5 million, the Ministry of Maritime and Civil Defense said, and will last for six months.

“To be clear, we are not solving the problem, the solution can only depend on the responsible intervention of the European Union,” said Nello Musumeci, Minister of Civil Protection.

The measure would allow the right-wing government of Georgia Maloney to more quickly repatriate those who are not allowed to remain in Italy by strengthening identification and deportation orders, a government source said.

The government, in power since October, has promised to curb mass immigration, but according to the Interior Ministry, around 31,300 migrants arrived in Italy in 2023, compared with about 7,900 in the same period last year.

On Monday, the coastguard led rescue operations involving two boats carrying a total of 1,200 people, while charity groups also joined forces to save lives at sea.

After a fatal shipwreck near the southern Italian region of Calabria in late February, Maloney called on the European Union to do more to stop illegal immigration while increasing prison terms for traffickers.

“It is right that the Ministry of the Interior and the institutions have special powers to address and manage a complex phenomenon that is challenging some southern regions,” Calabria Governor Roberto Ociuto said in a statement.