Italy: “Deep sorrow for human lives taken away by traffickers”, Meloni

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed condolences to the families of dead immigrants who left in a wooden vessel to arrive in Italy. On Sunday, February 26, a boat carrying hundreds of migrants sank in the deep waters of Staccato di Cutro, a seaside resort near the eastern coast of Calabria, Italy.

Through her social media account, Minister Meloni said, “Deep sorrow for the many human lives taken away by man traffickers”.

She noted that it is criminal to put on a boat that is only 20 meters long with 200 people on board and with adverse weather forecasts. It is inhumane to exchange the lives of men, women and children for the price of the ‘ticket’ they paid in the false perspective of a safe journey.

Giorgia remarked that the Italian Government is committed to preventing departures and, with them, using these tragedies.

It will continue to do so, above all demanding the maximum cooperation from the states of departure and origin. The action of those who speculate on these deaths today, after having exaggerated the illusion of illegal immigration.

Rescuers have counted at least 65 among the dead following Sunday’s shipwreck off Calabria, Italy, and fear more will come. Family and friends mourned the victims on Wednesday in a sports hall in the nearby city of Crotone.

The wooden vessel, carrying up to 200 migrants, broke against rocks in the Mediterranean during stormy weather, resulting in one of the deadliest shipwrecks in Italy in the past decade.

The boat left Turkey last Thursday and hit rocky waters on Sunday near the Italian coast. Frontex officials said they saw the vessel Saturday night, but inclement weather pushed them back to shore when the Italian coast guard set out to intercept it.

The majority of immigrants were from Turkey and Afghanistan. Taliban’s administration stated that almost 80 Afghan nationalists, including women and children, perished in the shipwreck on the southern coast of Itlay.

Pakistan migrants were also travelling in the same vessel; authorities reported that two Pakistani residents died in the incident among 17.

Italian citizens demonstrated their disappointment over Italian Government’s decisions regarding the migrant flow in the country. An Italian resident wrote preventing immigrants from entering the country is not a solution to the problem.

Showing sympathy for migrants who risk their lives to enter the country, several Italian nationalists suggested to the Italian administration that Italy must make an access and political asylum applications accessible and simple so that refugees can travel safely without risking their lives.