New initiatives to boost Italy's already "excellent" cooperation with the United Nations refugee agency was the focus of talks on Thursday in Rome between foreign minister Luigi Di Maio, and UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi.
Di Maio welcomed the renewal of Grandi's mandate at the helm of UNHCR and praised the agency's "priority" role in assisting migrants and refugees, which is also of special strategic interest to Italy in Libya and in the Sahel region, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"Recent missions show Italy's commitment on various fronts to promoting the stability of countries of origin and transit, and to establishing dialogue with local authorities that is based on full respect for migrants and refugees," the statement cited Di Maio as saying.
Italy confirms its financial support for the joint UNHCR-OIM plan for Libya and hopes that evacuation operations and the resettlement of vulnerable refugees via the Emergency Transmission Mechanism (ETM) will fully resume, Di Maio stated.
"Italy maintains its commitment to ensuring complementary migration channels for those granted international protection and trusts that the good practice of humanitarian corridors can be replicated in other European countries," Di Maio said.
Di Maio updated Grandi on the ongoing negotiations for a new European Union migration and asylum pact, underlining that Italy backs "concrete" solidarity mechanisms to help countries like Italy where migrants first enter the bloc, the statement said. Italy also wants to bolster cooperation between the EU and third countries in managing migration, according to the statement.
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