Aid agencies encourage migrants in the Med, says Italian senator
AN ITALIAN senator has accused relief organisations rescuing migrants from the Mediterranean of operating a ‘public transport’ service that is ‘enriching’ people traffickers.
Lucio Malan said aid agencies and charities running rescue ships should stop bringing them to his country and take them to the nearest coast instead.
The senator, from the centre-Right People of Freedom party, spoke after Italy threatened to turn away charity boats packed with rescued migrants from Africa.
He claimed that the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean was so regular it was not a rescue but ‘public transport’.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the senator accused migrants of coming to Italy so they don’t have to work and can rely on the public support.
‘All these people are coming to a country which has 40 per cent youth unemployment,’ Mr Malan added, while accusing rescue organisations of worsening the problem.
‘The more there are ships ready to take these people from a few miles from the Libyan coast, the more people leave from the Libyan shores and the more the people traffickers earn money,’ he said.
In a deepening row with the EU over its position at the frontline of Europe’s migration crisis, Italy has warned that the current situation is ‘unsustainable’.
A record number of migrants are expected in Italy this year. United Nations figures show that almost 78,742 have arrived so far compared to 67,702 in 2016 – a 16 per cent increase.
It has led Rome to threaten drastic action to stop the influx. Ministers have suggested that boats not flying the Italian flag or belonging to an EU-endorsed mission could be refused docking rights. Italy’s EU minister Sandro Gozi warned that his country is ‘really reaching its limit’.
The government is becoming tougher on migrants, quadrupling the number of detention centres from five to 20, and limiting the appeals process against refusal of asylum.
There is also growing anger in Rome that other EU countries have not acted on a deal to take in asylum seekers. Brussels has begun legal action against Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic for refusing to take an agreed share of refugees.
Officials in Rome say they face a bill of billions of pounds every year to deal with the tens of thousands of asylum seekers already in Italy. Brussels has said it was ready to increase financial support for the country, and commission president Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday urged other EU countries to do more to help.