Italy and Germany are facing renewed tensions over responsibility for migrants arriving across the Mediterranean, with Rome demanding financial contributions from Berlin over the number of people brought ashore by private rescue vessels.

According to figures released by Italy’s Interior Ministry, German aid organisations have brought around 22,500 migrants to Italian ports since Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took office in October 2022.

About 42,300 people arrived in Italy aboard private rescue vessels during the same period, meaning German organisations accounted for more than half of all such arrivals, according to the Italian figures.

Italy also recorded another 4,500 arrivals on vessels operated by aid groups from other European countries but sailing under the German flag. Rome therefore estimates that organisations linked to Germany were responsible for almost two-thirds of migrant arrivals involving private rescue ships.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi has called for Germany to contribute financially toward the costs associated with receiving migrants.

The dispute has also affected discussions over the transfer of asylum seekers between the two countries. Germany initially planned to transfer three people to Italy who had entered the European Union through Italy before later seeking asylum in Germany.

Italy has indicated that it could refuse to accept them and potentially return them to Germany instead.

Under EU rules, the country where a person first enters the bloc can generally be responsible for examining their asylum application if they later seek protection elsewhere. New migration rules that came into force in June retain the first-entry principle but also provide exceptions and a solidarity mechanism aimed at sharing responsibilities among member states.

Piantedosi and German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt are continuing discussions in an effort to find an agreement, according to the Italian ministry.

Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has taken a harder position, criticising private rescue organisations and calling on governments in Berlin and Madrid to restrict the activities of groups that bring migrants to Italian shores.

Aid organisations have defended their operations by pointing to the dangers faced by migrants attempting the central Mediterranean crossing.

Italian humanitarian organisation Emergency recently reported that seven people died aboard an overcrowded boat off the Libyan coast. The group said 57 people were rescued, including two who were in critical condition.

German groups Sea-Watch and Resqship have also reported recovering bodies from the Mediterranean.

The central Mediterranean remains one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes. According to the International Organization for Migration, at least 872 people have died or gone missing along the route so far this year.

The agency says the figure is based on documented cases and may underestimate the true toll because some incidents are never reported.

The dispute between Rome and Berlin reflects a wider struggle within the EU over how responsibility for migrants should be divided, particularly between countries on the bloc’s external borders and northern member states where many asylum seekers later travel.