Italy will not accept the secondary movement of migrants unless the European Union agrees to automatically redistribute asylum-seekers within the bloc in a revision of current rules that make them claim asylum in the states where they first arrive, premier Giuseppe Conte said on Tuesday.
"I will recall - as I did (at the European Council summit) in June - the principle of fairness in sharing the responsibility (for migration)," Conte told the Italian Senate ahead of this week's summit of EU heads of state and government.
"Until I receive concrete assurances, we will not blindly accept any acceleration of secondary movements," Conte said.
"I will stress this to European leaders," said Conte, who is due to attend the European Council taking place on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels.
Italy and Germany ave been working on a deal under which Germany would send back to Italy migrants who have already applied for asylum there, but the accord has yet to be signed.
Besides German authorities taking a genuine asylum-seeker from Italy for every returned migrant, Rome wants Berlin to back its demand that the EU revises the Dublin Treaty - which requires migrants to request asylum in the country where they first set foot on European soil.
Italy also wants Germany to support its drive to change the mandate of the EU’s Sophia naval mission which says all migrants by its ships patrolling the Mediterranean must be taken to Italy.
The secondary movement of migrants , refers to people including refugees and asylum seekers who for various reasons move from the country in which they first arrived to seek protection or permanent resettlement elsewhere, according to the European Commission.
