Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said today that she will not allow “Italy to become the refugee camp of Europe”, rejecting criticism of the agreement with Tunisia to stop the departure of migrant boats.
Meloni, who is in New York, United States, to participate in the United Nations General Assembly, stressed that the increase in the number of migrant boats to the island of Lampedusa has put Italy under “unsustainable pressure.”
In recent days, the Italian island has received around 10,000 illegal migrants, who left African shores and crossed the Eastern Mediterranean route to enter Europe.
Tunisia, which together with Libya is one of the main departure points for irregular migrants to Europe via the Eastern Mediterranean route, signed a memorandum of understanding in July on topics mainly aimed at combating migrant trafficking in exchange for channeling large groups migrants. sums of money into the country.
The Italian Prime Minister, who played a key role in the agreement’s conclusion, today rejected criticism of the memorandum, arguing that it is essential that the agreement is maintained.
“It is a model that can also be used with other countries,” he reflected.
Giorgia Meloni also criticized the cooperation of other European Union member states, admitting that there was “great attention and awareness” about the situation of migrants, but emphasizing that it is necessary to “see when and to what extent solidarity will take the form taking concrete actions”.
The wave of migrant boat arrivals that put the small Italian island of Lampedusa in the international spotlight continued unabated today.
Nine groups of migrants, totaling 242 people, disembarked this morning after 23 boats brought 896 migrants to the southern Italian island on Tuesday.
Source: DN
