Italian Interior Minister welcomes real refugees at airport

By Paul Dijks 16 November 2018


Federico Vinci / shutterstock.com

The head of Italy’s right-wing League Matteo Salvini, along with the coalition government, which includes the Five Star Movement (M5S), has vowed to stop illegal migrant arrivals and Rome has closed its ports to the NGO rescue boats.

However, the ‘tough on illegal immigration and human trafficking’ minister is not against helping genuine refugees, as is evidenced by the scenes of Matteo meeting with dozens of African migrants recently evacuated from Libya by the UN.

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There were 51 refugees, mostly families or women with children, who arrived on the tarmac at a military airport near Rome, and Matteo met them in person to assure them that Italy is a “a welcoming, generous and supportive country.”
“For women and children in difficulty, the only way to arrive is by plane, not by inflatable dinghy, because the dinghies are operated by criminals who in exchange for trafficking in human beings, buy weapons,” Mr. Salvini said.
“This is a demonstration that Italy is a welcoming, generous and supportive country, where I have been entrusted with the duty of bringing back some rules and order.”
The majority of the 32 adults and 19 children originate from Horn of Africa nations, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia and Sudan, part of the 2,300 vulnerable people evacuated from Libya by the UN refugee agency UNHCR since December.
They will be placed with host families in Italy by a Catholic association. Salvini, known worldwide for his tough side, gave a glimpse of his gentle side by being part of a televised Q&A with Italian children yesterday. When a child asked him: “are you a racist?” He replied: “Nah.”

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