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Call for Italian naval blockade to turn back migrants to Libya

22 agosto 2017 | 17.41
LETTURA: 2 minuti

Call for Italian naval blockade to turn back migrants to Libya

The mayor of the northeast city of Venice on Tuesday called for a "humanitarian" naval blockade of the Libyan coast to stop the thousands of boat migrants who head to Italy each month.

"We need to have our naval vessels 13 miles off the Libyan coast - not the Red Cross," Luigi Brugnaro told a meeting of lay Catholics in the eastern coastal town of Rimini.

"We'll rescue all the migrants and explain to them with leaflets including in Arabic that they cannot enter Italy in this way," Brugnaro went on.

"Even Nigeria requires a passport for entry... we'll give the migrants new, seaworthy boats and make them return safely to the coast from which they set sail."

Only genuine refugees should be allowed to stay aboard Italian navy ships, Brugnaro said.

Immigration is one of the most controversial issues facing politicians in Italy, where over 614,000 foreigners have arrived in the past three years, mostly sub-Saharan Africans who landed by boat from Libya. 

Italy accuses other European Union countries of failing to share the burden of housing, maintaining and employing the migrants. It has introduced a controversial code of conduct for charities rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean - which several have refused to sign - amid allegations that the NGOs are abetting illegal immigration.

The new code of conduct has split the Italian cabinet and there are also deep divisions within the Italian government on the ethics of returning migrants to lawless Libya, where they have suffered abuse and violence, including alleged torture and rape, at the hands of people traffickers and a network of thugs who prey on the vulnerable.

Earlier this month, Italy deployed a naval mission in the Mediterranean that Libya said would give technical and logistical support to coastguard in the chaos-wracked North African country who are combatting people-trafficking gangs.

The naval mission is non-aggressive, was requested by Libya's United Nations backed government of national accord and will only act in accordance with Libya's authorities, Italy's premier Paolo Gentiloni said on 28 July after the cabinet backed the mission.

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