Under fire from critics, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday rejected her government’s responsibility for the sinking that claimed the lives of at least 69 migrants in southern Italy.
“The situation is simple yet tragic: we have received no emergency alerts from (the European Border Surveillance Agency) Frontex,” she told a press briefing in Abu Dhabi. on the sidelines of a visit to the United Arab Emirates.
“Everything we can”, really?
Italian justice wonders about the too late arrival of help during the sinking of the boat of migrants Sunday off Crotone (Calabria), whose balance sheet increased on Saturday to 69 dead, after the discovery of the body of a child of about three years old.
Frontex had indicated that one of its patrol planes had spotted an overloaded boat on Saturday evening that had left the previous week from Izmir in Turkey, heading for Italy and had alerted the Italian authorities.
“We have always done everything we can to save lives as soon as we are notified of a problem. In this case, we have not been warned, ”defended Giorgia Meloni.
Call for resignation
The tragedy caused great emotion and revived criticism of the government of Giorgia Meloni, known for its anti-migrant positions, with the opposition calling in particular for the resignation of Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi.
In an open letter, the mayor of Crotone criticized the Prime Minister for the absence of the government after the tragedy. “The community of Crotone, hit by immense pain, has been waiting for a message, a call, a sign from you, which has not arrived,” wrote Vincenzo Voce.
Lack of European solidarity
“I am looking for solutions, Italy cannot solve the problem on its own, but to prevent more people from dying we must stop illegal departures,” replied the leader of the post-fascist party Fratelli d’Italia.
The migration issue is a very sensitive political subject in Italy, a country of first entry where hundreds of thousands of migrants have arrived in recent years. Rome criticizes its partners in the European Union for a lack of solidarity.
According to the Italian Interior Ministry, more than 14,000 migrants, including 1,700 minors, have landed in Italy since the start of the year, compared to around 5,500 during the same period last year.