“NGOs also important for criminal organizations”

Matteo Piantedosi – Photo by Ansa Foto

“We act with humanity and firmness: we have no intention of failing in the duties of hospitality, but people do not enter Italy illegally, human traffickers do not select them. We want to govern the flows rather than undergo them”. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi did not mince his words when he explained to the Senate the government’s hard line on migratory flows.

U-turn: “For years the national interest has not been taken into account”

In our country, he explained, “there are 100,000 migrants in the reception system and the prefectures are reporting a saturation of available places and critical problems”. The government wants to “reverse a course which for years did not take into account the national interest. It is essential that management is not entrusted to spontaneity or human trafficking organizations”.

Migrants: the Piantedosi plan

Piantedosi explained that “Italy favors a comprehensive development plan for North Africa that combines growth measures with those to combat human trafficking, with greater collaboration to prevent the departure of migrants. “.

As for the figures, during the briefing the minister said that “as of November 10 – he explained – 69,078 applications for international protection had been submitted, a good 56% more than in 2021. 50,048 decisions were taken, i.e. 27% more and of these 57% resulted in a refusal”. Arrivals have “increased by 60%. To date, more than 90,000 migrants have entered Italy.”

“Ocean Viking makes its way to France in complete autonomy”

Piantedosi also told the ship Ocean Viking: “The facts show how the Ocean Viking headed autonomously towards the French coast. A decision never desired by Italy and which created friction at the international level, absolutely unwanted by the government”.

“NGOs are a pull factor”

The boss of the Viminale added that “the presence of NGO ships continues to represent a pull factor, a pull factor for the flow of migrants and they are also important for criminal organizations which base their modus operandi on the presence of NGO assets in the Region”.

“The identification of the place of safety should have been made by the competent State of the Malta SAR zone in which the vessels intervened, Libya and Malta, then by the flag State. The “pos” request must come from the flag state of the vessels, not from NGOs. These vessels act autonomously, also compromising the ability to conduct rescue operations. It is therefore legitimate to consider the transit of these boats as not insignificant”.

And on the criticisms of recent days: “There are those who, even from positions that are now critical of government action, have in the past supported the need for a rational regulation of entries to promote employment in labor sectors neglected by Italians. . And those who maintained that the opening of the ports was irresponsible, that it risked causing the departure of thousands of people who were difficult to integrate and whom we would not have been able to accommodate, an assertion which also comes from those who have recently defined our position as a disaster and a staging”.