New Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made a moving speech in front of a television audience. Meloni had immigrants on her agenda and France on her target. According to the Italian leader, if countries like France did not exploit Africa’s people and natural resources, there would be no immigration from the Dark Continent to Europe. Meloni then showed photographs of young children she claimed to be working in one of the gold mines in Burkina Faso. French President Emmanuel Macron was also in the line of fire: according to Meloni, child labor was being used in gold mines for France.
Meloni also implied that French colonialism continues, holding up the CFA franc that France had put into use in fourteen African nations. In exchange for this “colonial currency,” France has been seizing 50 per cent of everything that Burkina Faso exports, Meloni said. Italy’s Prime Minister saved her solution offer for last: the solution is not to take Africans and bring them to Europe; the solution is to liberate Africans from certain Europeans who exploit them and let them live off whatever they have.
Migrant rescue ship crisis
Last week, Italy’s government did not let the Ocean Viking, operated by a French NGO, and carrying 230 African immigrants, dock on Italian shores. Italy made this decision by saying that other nations must play a bigger role in this immigration from Africa to Europe situation.
Then, the ship docked in the port of Toulon, France and a serious rift developed between Paris and Rome. France denounced Italy’s attitude as “selfish” and “unacceptable.” Macron’s government has also said it will respond to Italy for violating international maritime laws. But when Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Rally, accused France of being “dramatically soft” on the immigration issue, she sparked a debate in France as well.
Meloni’s initial response to salvoes was that she found the aggressive attitude of the French government incomprehensible and unjustified. Meloni asked: Should Italy be the only port in the Mediterranean for migrants to disembark? Nothing like this is written in any agreement. Meloni’s solution was clear: “To protect the external borders of the EU, to prevent departures of migrant boats, and to establish reception centers. We spent billions of euros on Turkey. Now we need a European-scale solution to be built.”
France, on the other hand, took another step and announced that it has suspended its plan to take in 3,500 immigrants in Italy. According to Paris, the “loser” in this situation was Meloni. But Italy was not alone: the European countries – namely Malta, Cyprus, and Greece – which are the immediate destinations for the flow of migrants, supported Rome and declared that “NGO boats should respect the law.” For years, Meloni and the leader of the other right-wing party Lega, Matteo Salvini, has argued that NGO boats promote human trafficking and facilitate its trade in Libya. France and NGOs say that NGO boats have saved migrant lives.
Italian officials complain that only 164 of the 88,000 illegal immigrants captured off the Italian coast this year have been granted asylum by other EU countries. According to Italy’s figures, 14 per cent of these 88,000 migrants were rescued by NGO boats. Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, who is close to the Technocrats and Lega, believe that the asylum seekers rescued by the NGO boats should be accepted by the countries where the boats are registered. Lega leader Matteo Salvini and centrist Maurizio Gasparri of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia backed the Italian government’s decision.
France increases border bureaucracy, EU on alert
Macron’s government, on the other hand, seems determined to work on Italy. Paris has sent 500 extra officers to the Italian border and tightened border checks at different border crossing points. As France tightened its vehicle inspections at 10 border points, queues began to form on the France-Italy border. French authorities declared they will carry out “serious passport check.”
Upon tension, the European Commission also took the lead and began work on setting new standards for the rescue activities of NGO boats. In addition to regulating NGO boats, the new plan will also decide on further co-ordination with African and Asian countries in repatriating asylum seekers. The new plan also aims to transfer around 600m euros to North African countries to keep migrants where they are.
