Meloni, the ‘female Mussolini’, anti-refugee policy
Disaster three days after passage of the Rescue Restriction Act in the Senate
17,000 Mediterranean refugees killed in 9 years
Prime Minister MelonieA refugee boat sank in Italy, killing at least 61 people, including 12 children. Criticism of the cabinet of Giorza Meloni, who recently passed a law limiting refugee rescue, is also mounting. Prime Minister Meloni, who took office as a far-right politician after 100 years since Benito Mussolini in October of last year, advocated anti-immigration and anti-Islam policies even before taking office, and was called “Woman Mussolini” and “Europe’s most dangerous woman.”
On the 26th, a wooden boat carrying more than 200 refugees collided with a reef and sank off the coast near Steccatodicute, Calabria, southwestern Italy. As of the 27th, 61 people died and 81 people were rescued. Twelve of the dead were children, including newborns and twins, estimated to be a few months old. With at least 60 people missing, the death toll is likely to rise. The Guardian reported that most of the refugees were from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and were heading to Europe after leaving Turkey on the 22nd.
Prime Minister Melonie claimed it was an accident caused by a smuggling broker. In a statement, he defined the brokers who carried the refugees on the boat as ‘human traffickers’ and said, “I express my deep sorrow that so many lives have died because of them.”
However, it is pointed out that the government cannot be free from responsibility, such as passing a law strengthening regulations on refugee rescue boats in the Italian Senate on the 23rd, three days before the accident. The law allows individual relief organizations to conduct rescue activities only once, and fines of up to 50,000 euros (about 70 million won) are imposed if they are violated. In the meantime, ‘Doctors Without Borders’ and others stayed on the coast for several days and rescued several times, and then gathered refugees and requested entry. Italy continued its uncooperative attitude even last month, assigning a port 100 hours away from Doctors Without Borders’ request for entry.
According to UNHCR, more than 17,000 refugees have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean alone since 2014, when Syrian refugees went to Europe in earnest. At least 220 people died in January and February this year. It is pointed out that pan-European countermeasures are needed as there are many observations that residents who have had difficulties in livelihood due to the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria will try to go to Europe at the risk of death.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.