Dealing with migration and the refugee crisis undoubtedly remains a major challenge for Giorgia Meloni’s government. In the five months since the conservative coalition of the Brothers of Italy, the League, and Forza Italia took office, this remains the most sensitive and complex issue on the country’s political agenda. In the last two weeks, in fact, it has dominated—almost entirely—the news cycle. On February 26, a twenty-meter-long fishing boat broke in two and sank off the coast of Calabria. Rescuers managed to save eighty people, but the death toll was extremely high: Seventy-four migrants and refugees were recovered dead, while more than forty remained missing.
This tragic incident caused a great deal of emotion and demonstrated, once again, just how difficult it is to manage this entire issue. The Italian government insisted that Frontex did not notify it in a timely manner that there were people on board the vessel who were in danger of losing their lives. Part of the press, however, argued that speedboats from the Financial Police should not have been used, but rather the Italian Coast Guard, which has larger vessels specially equipped for rescue operations.
The media also strongly emphasized that human traffickers continue to load «desperate people of the sea» onto boats and fishing vessels that set out from the Turkish coast, despite the agreement the European Union has signed with Turkey aimed at controlling migration.
As is well known, during her campaign prior to last September’s parliamentary elections, Meloni had repeatedly referred to the possibility of establishing a kind of European naval blockade to curb irregular migration. The center-left parties were vehemently opposed and had responded that this was unfeasible, because Europe cannot intercept ships carrying citizens who are seeking a better future.
Following the recent shipwreck off the coast of Calabria, the Italian prime minister returned to this critical issue with a series of measures. Her government has decided that penalties for human traffickers who exploit these «journeys of despair» should be doubled: from the current fifteen years in prison, their sentences could reach thirty years in cases where human lives are lost during the crossing of the Mediterranean. At the same time, the head of the Italian government announced an increase in deportations and repatriations, as well as the establishment of official, legal channels for economic migrants who wish to come to Italy without the assistance of organized crime networks.
This new strategy by the Meloni government is essentially based on two main elements: first, the ongoing fight against human traffickers. Through awareness campaigns in Italy and abroad, the goal is to send a clear message to migrants that «it is not in their best interest to trust them and put their lives at risk.».
On the other hand—due in part to pressure from industrialists, who need workers from abroad—emphasis will be placed on increasing the number of work permits, with a precise, predetermined number for each three-year period. In the sectors of agriculture and tourism, as well as in many industries in northern Italy, there is a great need for labor, and the goal is to give priority to those with recognized vocational training.
Marking a slight shift from the past, the 46-year-old Italian prime minister wants to show that «she does not wish to crack down on law-abiding immigrants, but rather on the traffickers who exploit their need and despair.».
At the same time, however, the issue of rescues remains unresolved. Because, of course, it is impossible, from one day to the next, to stop—from Turkey and North Africa—the departures of the smugglers’ dilapidated boats, which are headed for the coasts of Calabria, Apulia, and Sicily.
According to many analysts, following the shipwreck on February 26, Meloni made it clear to all her ministers that saving every human life takes precedence over any political differences or approaches.
It remains to be seen, however, whether the ministries responsible for these agencies will be able, from now on, to coordinate their actions. It’s not that simple: the secretary of the League, Matteo Salvini (a proponent of the most uncompromising, hard-line stance on immigration) heads the Ministry of Infrastructure, which oversees the coast guard. The Ministry of the Interior is headed by the technocrat and former provincial governor Matteo Piantedosi, while the minister responsible «for Civil Protection and maritime policies» is Nello Muzumecchi, from Meloni’s party. So far, coordination between them has not always been the best it could be. To secure greater assistance from Europe—and more substantial financial support for North African countries from the EU— the government in Rome must first demonstrate that rescue operations follow a common approach and criteria, without any hesitation or deviation.
Theodoros Andreadis Syggelakis
