News24 Forza Italia head Giorgia Meloni said the boats setting off from north Africa to Italy “should be stopped as they leave,” while those used by smugglers to escape “should be sunk”. The majority of illegal alien arrivals have no desire to stay in Italy but desire to head towards northern Europe and the UK where the welfare benefits are more generous.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is “looking for another 6 500 beds for immigrants,” said Matteo Salvini, head of the anti-immigrant Northern League, which has made the crisis one of its platforms ahead of regional elections in May. “I ask the League’s governors, mayors, assessors and councillors to say no, with every means, to every new arrival. The League is ready to occupy every hotel, hostel, school or barracks intended for the alleged refugees,” Salvini said on Facebook on Tuesday.
Members of the opposition have accused Renzi’s centre-left government of pandering to those fleeing war zones or poverty, with many saying the policy of rescuing immigrants at sea encourages others to attempt the journey.
“It is an absolute disgrace that the government, instead of repelling the invasion of clandestine immigrants, thinks to appropriate thousands and thousands of beds, giving in to the invasion,” said senator Maurizio Gasparri from the centre-right Forza Italia (Go Italy) party.
Around 10,500 people have been plucked from boats since the beginning of April, with 20,500 people arriving in total so far this year. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 500 people have died at sea. Italy’s coast guard said that 2,851 people had been picked up from boats on Monday alone.
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