The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented on Sunday on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa an emergency plan to help Italy cope with the record arrival of migrants on its territory, reports AFP.

In Lampedusa, von der Leyen detailed a 10-point aid plan aimed at resolving the current situation, better distributing asylum seekers between European countries and preventing the recurrence of episodes of mass arrivals that place a significant strain on the peninsula’s logistical and administrative capacity.

It should combine resilience against human traffickers and facilitating legal entry into the European space for those entitled to asylum.

Brussels initially plans to step up assistance to Italy from the European Union’s Asylum Agency and the EU’s border and coast guard agency, Frontex, to ensure migrant registration, fingerprinting, interviews and more.

Frontex and other agencies will also have to step up monitoring of the seas and “explore options for expanding their naval missions in the Mediterranean.”

The commission wants to facilitate the transportation of people arriving in Lampedusa who are usually taken by boat to Sicily or the mainland, including other European countries.

“Illegal immigration is a European challenge that requires a European response,” von der Leyen insisted in Lampedusa.

“We call on other member states to use the voluntary solidarity mechanism,” she said, without mentioning Germany, which recently decided to stop accepting migrants arriving in Italy.

The plan also calls for improved dialogue with the main countries of emigration along this route to readmit their nationals who do not meet the conditions for asylum, including Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Burkina Faso.

The plan also includes agreements with countries of origin and transit to reduce the number of departures, especially with Tunisia, where the vast majority of people arriving in Lampedusa land.

In July, the EU signed a partnership agreement with Tunisia aimed at reducing migrant arrivals on Italian shores in return for financial aid.

Von der Leyen on Sunday estimated that the EU should speed up the disbursement of this aid to Tunisia, while Maloney raised the possibility of European aid to help the country finish its budget, even if the International Monetary Fund makes a $1.9 billion loan conditional on the adoption of reforms that the president Tunisia is rejected by Kais Syed.

Finally, the commission wants to “increase awareness and communication campaigns to discourage Mediterranean crossings,” while “continuing to work to provide alternatives such as humanitarian admission and legal channels” to immigration.

According to data from the Ministry of the Interior in Rome, about 127,200 people arrived in Italy by boat from the beginning of the year to September 15. During the same period last year, this figure was about 66,200.

Almost 7,000 migrants have arrived on Lampedusa this week, more than the island’s permanent population.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloni called on the European Union to act together “with a naval mission if necessary” to prevent migrants from crossing the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa.

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