Italy faces backlash for refusing to take back migrants under Dublin rules

The number of migrants Italy refuses to take back is increasing. Italy has accepted only three of the 12,841 migrants that Germany wants it to take back under Dublin rules, adding to the bureaucratic uncertainty of a system that Rome officially supports.

The 12,841 migrants in question are individuals who arrived in Italy before traveling to Germany. Under the Dublin rules, Italy is responsible for processing their asylum claims and providing them with accommodation. Over the past two years, however, the Italian government has quietly ignored these obligations, fueling tensions with European governments, especially Germany.

According to Eurostat figures, in 2023, Italy received 42,468 requests from other member states to receive migrants under the Dublin rules—the highest number of any member state—followed by Bulgaria (18,145). At the other end of the spectrum, Germany and then France leads the way in requests to other countries to receive migrants under Dublin, with 74,620 and 48,724 respectively.

“What Germany is demanding from Italy is technically correct, but it is based on flawed and unfair rules created by the Dublin Regulation, which only create new problems,” Pasqualino Penza, an Italian Five Star Movement MEP and member of the parliament’s interior committee, told Euractiv .

The Italian Interior Ministry refuses to comment publicly, but sources confirmed to Euractiv that the suspension is due to the large number of arrivals from North Africa straining Italy’s reception system. These were the same arguments used by the Italian government in late 2024 when it issued a circular calling on the 27 EU member states to temporarily halt transfers, citing a lack of space in reception centers.

Penza argued that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni should not have reaffirmed Italy’s commitment to Dublin rules by signing the new EU agreement on migration and asylum, describing the move as “pointless and clumsy.” The opposition MP argued that the agreement would almost double Italy’s responsibility for migrants and speed up the process of returning migrants under Dublin rules.

Matteo Mauri, a Democratic Party MP and deputy chairman of the parliamentary home affairs committee, also believes that Meloni’s decision is politically motivated. “He didn’t want to clash with his nationalist friends like [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán. It is clear that nationalist leaders cannot cooperate when they have conflicting interests,” Mauri told Euractiv .

According to Mauri, Meloni preferred to sign the agreement rather than push for reforms to the Dublin Regulation but then tried to circumvent them by not implementing the rules. “It is too easy to say that Dublin should not be changed and then try to solve the problem by ignoring European regulations,” Mauri said.

The EU Court of Justice has also intervened in the matter. In December, it ruled against Italy in a case brought by two Syrian nationals whose asylum claims were rejected in Germany on the grounds that Italy was responsible for the processing of their applications. The judgment confirmed that Italy cannot unilaterally suspend the Dublin rules without a reasoned legal judgment. According to the court, a unilateral suspension does not constitute a “systemic failure,” which is the only legal condition for a country to refuse to take back persons it is required to take under the Dublin rules.