Thread: Italian PM will use ‘extraordinary measures’, including a naval blockade, to deal wit

Italian PM will use ‘extraordinary measures’, including a naval blockade, to deal with migrants

September 16, 2023
Kevin Haggerty

The surge of illegal aliens creating a state of emergency across Italy led the prime minister to promise “extraordinary measures” in response to a recent wave overtaking a small island.

Much like the United States crisis at the southern border, European nations have been wracked with their own unending waves of foreign nationals pursuing illegal avenues to gain entry. For the Italian island of Lampedusa, that amounted to more than 6,000 aliens in one 24-hour period this week, a number greater than the actual population there.

Reacting to the humanitarian crisis, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni released a video promising to take “extraordinary measures” to protect her citizens from the efforts of “unscrupulous traffickers,” including a call for a naval blockade to be employed to prevent smugglers from departing the coast of North Africa.



Giorgia Meloni
@GiorgiaMeloni
·
Follow

Lavoriamo ogni giorno per mantenere gli impegni che abbiamo sottoscritto con voi, in ogni ambito, a partire dal ripristino della legalità e nel contrasto all’immigrazione illegale.

We work every day to maintain the commitments we have signed with you, in every area, starting from the restoration of legality and the fight against illegal immigration.

Watch on Twitter

2:11 PM · Sep 15, 2023

“Obviously, Italy and Europe cannot welcome this massive influx of people, especially when these migrant flows are being managed by unscrupulous traffickers,” she said, according to a translation of the video wherein she invited the head of the European Commission to join her in visiting the island in person to see the impact the aliens smuggled from Tunisia were having.

As had been reported earlier this week, the influx was described by Brexit supporter and entrepreneur Jim Ferguson as “a weapon” in the World Economic Forum’s arsenal against “sovereign nations.”



BPR based
@DumpstrFireNews
·
Follow

Citizens on Italian island OUTNUMBERED as thousands of African migrants descend in timely ‘takeover’ https://bizpacreview.com/2023/09/14/citizens-on-italian-island-outnumbered-as-thousands-of-african-migrants-descend-in-timely-takeover-1395935/… via @BIZPACReview



bizpacreview.com
Citizens on Italian island OUTNUMBERED as thousands of African migrants descend in timely ‘takeover’
Sicily's Lampedusa island overrun by more than 6,000 illegal African migrants in 24 hours, declares state of emergency

1:09 PM · Sep 14, 2023

Detailing the crisis unfolding in the Mediterranean Sea, the Associated Press explained, “Lampedusa, which is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland, has been overwhelmed this week by thousands of people hoping to reach Europe from Tunisia, which has replaced Libya as the main base for migrant smuggling operations in the Mediterranean.”

“The Italian Red Cross said that around 700 new arrivals had been transferred off Lampedusa on Thursday and 2,500 more transfers were planned for Friday to try to relieve pressure on the island’s refugee center, which has a normal capacity of around 400 people. As of Friday morning, the center was hosting about 3,800 people, down significantly from the more than 6,000 registered this week, the Red Cross said in a statement,” according to the AP.

Expressing the need for a “paradigm change” in Europe, Meloni warned that a failure to do so could result in millions taking the dangerous journey in hopes of reaching Europe to escape conflict, out-of-control food prices, and overall instability.

The European Union had reached a deal with Tunisia meant to help combat smuggling operations in exchange for financial support. However, recent events were treated as evidence that the measure had failed.
Alien arrivals in Italy across the Mediterranean have continued to increase in recent years climbing from 42,000 in 2021, to 66,000 in 2022 and having already exceeded 126,000 this year, according to the Italian Interior Ministry.

Ahead of a visit from French politician Marine Le Pen, her niece Marion Marechal had traveled to Lampedusa to show solidarity with Italy and told reporters, “I came to support the Italian people and government, because Lampedusa today and the Italian border are the borders of the whole of Europe. We have to change EU policy to help the Italian government, which today is alone in facing this crisis.”

Unaddressed, the influx of aliens to Italy could see the nation surpass the previous record set in 2016 where 181,000 had arrived by boat. Earlier this year, Meloni had declared a six-month nationwide state of emergency because of the crisis approving nearly $5.5 million in funding to address, among other problems, overflowing shelters.

https://www.bizpacreview.com/2023/09...rants-1396588/

Load them on barges, let the Navy tow them back!

This has got to stop.

Italy’s PM Meloni Despairs at Illegal Migrant Surge: Warns ‘Future of Europe Is at Stake’



by SIMON KENT 17 Sep 2023

Thousands of illegal migrants delivered by people smugglers from the North African coast landed on Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa this past week, sparking a warning Sunday from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni the “future of Europe is at stake” if the human flood tide is allowed to continue.

At a press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a visit to the besieged island, AFP reports Meloni said the European Union (E.U.) needed to come together to face the challenges of uncontrolled migration with common purpose.

It is “the future that Europe wants for itself that is at stake here, because the future of Europe depends on Europe’s capacity to face major challenges,” Meloni warned.



Migrants queue inside the operational centre called “Hotspot” on the Italian island of Lampedusa, on September 16, 2023. (ZAKARIA ABDELKAFI/AFP via Getty Images)


A view of the crowd of nearly 7,000 irregular migrants who arrived in Lampedusa island of Italy over one 24-hour period ending September 14, 2023. (Valeria Ferraro/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Between Monday and Wednesday, an estimated 8,500 people — more than the island’s entire local population — arrived aboard 199 boats, according to the U.N. migration agency.

Lampedusa is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland which has long made it a target for illegal arrivals coming by boat.

“Irregular immigration is a European challenge that needs a European response,” von der Leyen said, calling on other members of the bloc to take in some of the migrants but declining to address the source of the crisis.

The Italian Red Cross, which runs the overcrowded Lampedusa migration centre, said Sunday 1,500 migrants remained there despite having a capacity for just 400.



Breitbart News
@BreitbartNews
·
Follow

Italy has seen the number of illegal boat migrants landing on its shores double over last year, reaching nearly 90,000 in just seven months.



breitbart.com
Illegal Boat Migration Doubles Over Last Year in Italy in Blow for Meloni
Italy has seen the number of illegal boat migrants landing on its shores double over last year, reaching nearly 90,000 in just seven months.

8:56 PM · Aug 18, 2023

Transfers of migrants to Sicily and the mainland have not kept up with the flow of new arrivals, although further transfers were expected to be made Sunday, the Red Cross said.

The AFP report outlined officials were met on arrival at the airport by residents unhappy with the mass arrivals, threatening to block their motorcade.

“We are doing everything possible,” Meloni had said in response.

She spoke as large vessels operated by NGOs like the Geo Barents by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which have rescued nearly 500 migrants in 11 operations, continued to head for major Italian ports to offload their human cargo before turning around and heading back out to sea.



Breitbart News
@BreitbartNews
·
Follow

Italian PM Giorgia Meloni has called on migrant taxi NGOs to stop their “ferry service” in the Mediterranean.



breitbart.com
Meloni Tells Migrant Taxi NGOs: Stop Ferry Service
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni has called on migrant taxi NGOs to stop their "ferry service" in the Mediterranean.

3:16 PM · Jan 7, 2023

According to Interior Ministry statistics, nearly 126,000 people have arrived in Italy so far by boat this year compared to 66,000 this time last year and 42,000 in 2021.

If the trend continues, this year could be on track to near the record in 2016, when by the end of September about 132,000 migrants had arrived. The year 2016 holds the recent record for migrant sea arrivals with a total of 181,000 people, AP reports.

The influx has occurred despite an E.U.-inked accord with Tunisia to stem the smuggling operations in exchange for economic assistance.



Arrival of the ship AitaMari of the NGO Salvamento Maritimo Humanitario, which picked up 172 migrants including two infants and 55 minors off the island of Lampedusa. (Antonio Balasco/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The human tide needs to be stemmed, Meloni said Thursday, acknowledging some legal migration can benefit European economies but uncontrolled migration is not the solution to the continent’s demographic crisis.

Meloni spoke after she met ally Hungarian ally Viktor Orban in Budapest, Reuters reports.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/202...e-is-at-stake/