«I understand who is leaving, but this emergency must be faced. And Italy is not enough»- Corriere.it

“Do you know what the only truth is?”

Which Antonio Tajani, Foreign Minister?

«That the migratory emergency, from the various hot crisis fronts, is the biggest problem we will have to face in the coming years, perhaps decades. And Italy, beyond speculation or internal political controversies, cannot do it alone».

He can’t even stand by as people die just a few yards off our coast, though.

“Of course not. And in fact we do not stand by and watch. Do you know how many rescue operations the Guardia di Finanza and the Coast Guard carry out in our seas? In 2022 they did 1170 surgeries of law enforcementin which they recovered 38,507 migrants, and 917 interventions of search and rescue, with 57,028 migrants rescued. We have saved thousands and thousands of lives, and all Italians know it, but unfortunately we don’t always succeed. Unfortunately, among the thousands of desperate people who rely on criminal smugglers, someone can’t make it. As in the shipwreck of Steccato di Cutro».

What really happened on that coast?

«The judiciary will do its job, we will see if there are responsibilities or if, as I believe, it was a tragic, terrible fatality. Frontex had only reported one vessel with one person on board who did not appear to be in trouble. In the open sea, after having passed the territorial waters of many countries. But do you really think that, if the danger had been known, our authorities would not have intervened, as they have done many times, with great professionalism and scruple?

There are those who think that the government’s attitude, that “don’t leave or it’s worse for you”, sounded like an indirect message to those who should save lives.

“But this is really just political speculation. The “no matches” is aimed at those who run a terrible risk often without even knowing it. How can one think that a respectable person like Minister Piantedosi, a scrupulous, attentive man who has faced so many crises, who works on every aspect, can think that the faults lie with those who side and not with the criminals who put them at risk? ».

Do you understand the reasons of those who leave, even risking their lives?

«Humanly certain that I understand them. But a serious policy must take a step forward and understand what can be done to stem and solve an immense problem”.

And is it a council of ministers in Crotone?

«We’ll do it during the week, also to give a signal, but nobody has a magic wand. There are at least two plans of intervention».

Which?

“One is what we as a country can do. Each of our missions, each trip, each international meeting has the theme of immigration at the top, at the heart of Italy’s foreign and security policy. Not only as a contrast to departures that risk turning the seas into cemeteries, but as aid to countries suffering from enormous crises. Both Meloni and I have been to Africa and the Mediterranean several times to sign agreements, to unblock aid especially for Tunisia, which in the financial crisis risks becoming a powder keg, to stabilize Libya. Most recently in the United Arab Emirates, we have brokered to mobilize new aid for countries in need. And we are also very active on the Balkan route: on Friday I will be in Bosnia-Herzegovina».

But?

“But we can’t do it alone. We can sign agreements with individual countries to encourage the repatriation of illegal immigrants, offering in return an increase in regular flows to get a workforce here and give a safe way out to many who are pressing, from Iran and Syria to the various crisis scenarios of Africa, such as Tunisia, but also the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh. But much more is needed.”

What?

«We need Europe, in the first place. It serves the UN. We need the Monetary Fund. I repeat, it’s a global problem, it’s not just Italian».

However, the Italian response seemed to be that of closure: no to NGO ships, no to departures…

«The NGOs have nothing to do with the shipwreck in Calabria, it is not a route covered by them. And the “no to departures” is precisely to prevent masses of desperate people from transforming their desire for salvation into death. But if we don’t face this emergency together, Italy cannot do it alone”.

So compact, no doubt about Piantedosi?

“No doubt. And we are compact, yes, because there aren’t a thousand recipes. Indeed, from the opposition they provide them, if they have them. Too easy to speculate on dramas like these and cry resignation. We are on the field every day to open up our country to more controlled and safe entries, but the push that comes is such that there can’t be a single answer, often purely demagogic. Famines, wars, earthquakes are not the fault of this government. Which instead proposes a great Mattei Plan for Africa. None of us underestimate or evade the problem. We consider it the most serious of those that the world will have to face.