Europe is "elegantly washing its
hands" of a migrant "drama which will be ever more unbearable by
Italy", the secretary-general of the Italian Bishops' Conference
(CEI), Msgr Nunzio Galantino, told Vatican Radio Friday.
Italy is bearing the brunt of a migrant emergency in the
Mediterranean and is asking the EU to more fairly share the
burden of rescuing and receiving migrants.
Italy's year-long Mare Nostrum mission, which ended last
November, scoured the Med for migrants while the EU's
replacement Triton mission patrols borders and only goes after
struggling boats when alerts go out.
Some 170,000 migrants reached Italy last year while about
23,000 have come so far this year compared to about 21,000 in
the same period last year, a rise of about 10%.
About half a million migrants are reportedly poised to set
off from the lawless shores of Libya.
Migrant centres in Italy have overflowed and migrants and
asylum seekers are being housed in hotels, sparking resistance
from regional governments and the outspoken criticism of
political parties like the anti-immigrant Northern League, which
is rising in the polls.
The human toll of the crisis is also enormous.
There have been a series of migrant-boat disasters and on
Thursday Italian police said witnesses had told them that a
group of Muslims threw 12 Christians overboard in a fight on the
way to Sicily.
Some 950 migrants and asylum seekers have died in the
Mediterranean this year alone, the office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday.
European Union sources said Friday that they could "see"
the limits of the Triton sea operation in the Mediterranean, but
added that there was no consensus among the 28 member states on
beefing it up to help cope with the migrant crisis.
The EU sources said that "there is not yet the collective
will for a stronger collective maritime initiative" ahead of
Monday's meeting of European foreign ministers focusing on
Libya.
The chaos in Libya is also a problem for Italy in other
ways.
The Italian Defence chief of staff said Friday that Navy
personnel have boarded and taken control of an Italian fishing
boat that Libyans tried to seize overnight.
The attempt to impound the boat was carried out with a tug,
"presumably belonging to Libyan security forces," the department
said. It said the incident took place some 90 kilometres
northwest of Misrata.
The boat, the Mazara del Vallo-based Airone, reportedly
had seven sailors aboard, three Italians from Sicily and four
Tunisians.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
