Italy: Meloni pledged to end the arrival of migrants from Africa

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vowed on Tuesday to prevent the arrival of migrants from Africa, as a non-governmental organization warned that more than 1,300 people were at risk in the Mediterranean.

The leader of the post-fascist party Fratelli d’Italia (FdI, “Brothers of Italy”), said that her government, the most right-wing in the country since World War II, intends to “stop illegal departures” from Africa, to “end human trafficking”.

Presenting her government’s program to the Italian parliament, she insisted it was time for Rome to stop traffickers “deciding who can enter” Italy.

Her government’s new interior minister, Matteo Piandedozzi, has announced plans to block NGO ships rescuing migrants at sea from docking in Italy, reinstating the highly controversial policy of anti-immigration party leader Matteo Salvini. League and Deputy Prime Minister Meloni.

Alarm Phone, a non-governmental organization that runs a helpline for migrants in distress at sea and in need of rescue, said yesterday that two ships with more than 1,300 people had run into trouble trying to cross the Mediterranean. The NGO clarified that the two ships sailed together from the coast of Libya.

“We were told that one is carrying about 700 people, the second about 650. It appears that one person is dead and that the engines are no longer working,” Alarm Phone said, judging that a “massive rescue operation” is necessary.

The Italian coast guard recovered the bodies of twins, about one month old, who died on Monday during a capsized boat leaving Tunisia, Italian media reported.

Rights at stake

Italy, for years at the forefront of dealing with the migrant crisis, welcomes tens of thousands of people each year who attempt to cross the deadliest maritime migration route on the planet.

Two ships of non-governmental organizations carrying out search and rescue operations are currently in the Mediterranean: the Humanity 1 of SOS Humanité and the Ocean Viking of SOS Méditerranée, on which a total of 300 migrants were on board yesterday Tuesday after being rescued at sea.

The interior minister, Matteo Salvini’s former chief of staff when he was interior minister, said yesterday that the NGO ships do not “comply with the spirit of European and Italian rules” on border protection and that he intends to ban their entry into Italian territorial waters.

Mr Salvini, who has been given the Transport portfolio and is therefore de facto in charge of the coastguard, is expected to join forces with Mr Piandedozzi to end search and rescue operations, which Italy’s far-right is pushing for how they “attract” refugees and immigrants.

Mr. Salvini is currently facing criminal charges for barring migrants at sea in 2019, when he was interior minister.

Ms. Meloni assured that the right to asylum of those fleeing wars or persecution will continue to be respected.

But human rights groups stress that this right violates an EU-sponsored agreement between Italy and Libya under which the Libyan coast guard intercepts migrants at sea and takes them against their will back to the country where it continues the civil strife.

“This is an agreement that for five years has had dramatic consequences for the lives of thousands of women, men and children, immigrants and refugees. From 2017 to October 2022, almost 100,000 people were intercepted by the Libyan coast guard,” said 40 NGOs yesterday, who are organizing today a mobilization to denounce this agreement.

For the most part, these people ended up in Libyan detention centers, which Pope Francis has likened to Nazi concentration camps.

The new Italian government has until next week to decide whether to end that deal or let it automatically renew for an additional three years.

RES-EMP

Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.