Giorgia Meloni came onto the political scene with proposals and promises that shocked many people because of their far-right nature, especially on the issue of migration. But today, some European leaders are looking to Italy as an example to follow in terms of the migration model. One of them is the president of the Popular Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who will travel to Rome this Thursday meet the co-founder of the Brothers of Italy to learn more about her immigration model because it “mixes legality and humanity”, as well as to work on a strategy for the internationalization of irregular migration. But what are Meloni’s measures to combat this scourge?
Among the most controversial are the relating to high seas rescues carried out by NGO vessels. We remember precisely the case of Open arms for which the prosecution is now asking Matteo Salvini for six years in prison, since he was then Minister of the Interior.
The measure established in 2022 envisages the obligation for boats carrying migrants found at sea to have a permit to reach land, as well as the prohibition of doing more than one rescue during a trip. Once they have the permit, they can go to the port, but in the one assigned to them and which does not always meet the distance criteria. Rules which, beyond the anger of these organizations, non-compliance with results in significant sanctions.
On the other hand, the agreements that Italy maintains – through the European Union (EU) – with Libya and Tunisia. Some money is invested in these countries in order to combat irregular migration from these countries. An initiative that is also not appreciated by human rights organizations, who believe that respect for people’s rights is in danger.
More recent is the agreement reached with neighbouring Albania, where, pending ratification, migrants should wait for their asylum permit to enter Italy. To this end, the construction of two detention centres with Italian funding and security is envisaged, but on Albanian territory.
The Italian government is planning to build new detention centres where the maximum period of stay for repatriation will be increased to 18 months. Amnesty International also denounces the fact that these projects envisage “the application of ‘border procedures’ to people from ‘safe countries’ seeking asylum, which translates into the automatic detention of people on the basis of their nationality.
