As the whole of Europe sours on the once-treasured issue of the unchecked mass migration wrecking their social fabric, even the most ardent proponents of the cause are looking for ways to ditch this failed policy.
We see France’s Emmanuel Macron installing a conservative Prime Minister who is against migration, Germany’s Olaf Scholz instituting border checks, and now even leftist British Premier Keir Starmer going to Italy to learn from right-winger Giorgia Meloni how to deal with the endless influx of migrant boats arriving in their shores.
Starmer yesterday (16) praised the migration policies of Meloni as having made ‘remarkable progress’ in reducing the number of migrants reaching Italy’s shores by boat.
The meeting in Rome came after eight seaborne migrants died off the French coast over the weekend trying to cross the English Channel.
Associated Press reported:
“The Labour Party prime minister isn’t a natural ally of Meloni, who heads the far-right Brothers of Italy party. But migration has climbed the U.K. political agenda, and Starmer hopes Italy’s tough approach can help him stop people fleeing war and poverty trying to cross the channel in flimsy, overcrowded boats.”
No less than 22,000 migrants crossed from France into Britain this year.
“The number of migrants arriving in Italy by boat in the first half of this year was down 60% from 2023, according to the country’s Interior Ministry, and migration formed the core of the leaders’ talks at the Villa Doria Pamphilj, a 17th-century mansion set in a large park not far from the Vatican.”
Starmer told the press that Italy is making ‘remarkable progress’ cracking down on smuggling gangs and ‘working with countries along migration routes as equals’.
Meloni has signed deals with African countries like Tunisia to block departures, and imposed limits on the work of NGOs and their ‘humanitarian rescue ships’.
She has also cracked down on traffickers and taken measures to deter people from departing to Italy in the first place.
“Italy also has signed a deal with Albania under which some adult male migrants rescued at sea while trying to reach Italy would be taken instead to Albania while their asylum claims are processed. Meloni said Starmer had expressed interest in ‘new solutions’ such as the Albania deal, and said she had filled him in. She said the processing centers in Albania, which had been due to open in August, would likely be up and running in a few weeks and that it was best to delay the opening until they were ready since the ‘eyes of the world” would be on them’.”
Italy’s approach – as one would imagine – has been criticized by refugee groups ‘alarmed by Europe’s increasingly strict asylum rules’.
“Starmer said he had no qualms about working with Meloni’s government. ‘Italy is an ally’, he told reporters traveling with him to Rome. ‘I think the more we can collaborate and cooperate with our partners on a shared challenge, the better’.”
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