Premier Matteo Renzi on
Tuesday paid a pre-Christmas visit to the Italian blue helmets
serving in the United Nations UNIFIL mission in the south of
Lebanon, close to the Israeli border, while Italian Senate
Speaker Pietro Grasso arrived in Baghdad to address Italian
soldiers serving in Iraq and hold a series of meetings with the
Iraqi authorities.
Renzi met with Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam during
his visit, who told reporters at a joint press conference that
his country needs Europe's help in dealing with masses of
refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria, which has been tearing
the country apart since 2011.
"We request the support of Europe and Italy in the face of
the enormous flow of Syrian refugees," Salam said.
Renzi emphasized the sharp contrast between the number of
asylum seekers entering Italy and those entering Lebanon, and
said the 150,000 asylum seekers who reached Italy on migrant
boats this year are not an "invasion" in a country of 60 million
inhabitants, as some rightwing politicians are calling it.
"There's a minority of Italian political parties who create
controversy saying that there's an invasion of migrants," Renzi
said.
"But Lebanon is 15 times smaller than Italy, it has four
million residents - not 60 - and yet it welcomes...1.5 million
refugees, 10 times the number accepted by Italy this year. This
gives a sense of the proportions".
"We shouldn't pretend nothing's happening, but the slogans
need to stop and concrete action needs to be taken to face the
refugee problem," Renzi said.
Renzi also visited a UNICEF school for Lebanese and Syrian
refugee children aged 4-11 that was renovated with Italian
funds, as was a wing of the National Museum, which Renzi also
visited earlier in the day.
"If we don't invest in education and knowledge, we risk
delivering an entire generation to extremism and fanaticism,"
Renzi wrote on his Facebook page.
Meanwhile, Senate Speaker Pietro met with Carabinieri
military police and their Iraqi trainees at Camp Dublin outside
Baghdad.
"As an Italian I am proud of the way you represent Italy,"
Grasso told the Italian troops.
After meeting the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Salim Al
Jabouri, Grasso urged international cooperation.
"It has never been so urgent for the whole international
community to be united and cooperate to find a common political
and diplomatic solution to combat Daesh (ISIS in Arabic), and
the terrorism that represents a threat to civil coexistence,"
Grasso said.
"Italy has a fundamental role in the coalition against
Daesh, where it represents the second-largest country in terms
of numbers on the ground, with about 700 men".
"We are committed to the fullest here and we will continue
to be so," Grasso said.
While in the Iraqi capital, Grasso also met with the
Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Baghdad, Monsignor Louis Sako,
who said he is "seriously concerned" about the rise of Islamic
fundamentalism in the country.
"We're afraid for the political future of the country,"
Sako said, citing cases of intolerance against Christians
including a law in which the children of those who convert to
Islam automatically become Muslims.
Sako said the law is "a violation of the Constitution and
an infringement of human rights", but added "here religion
matters a lot in politics, so I'm not optimistic".
However Iraqi President Fouad Masum has sent the automatic
religious conversion law back to parliament for debate.
Iraqi Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri also confirmed
that the law would go back to the floor for discussion and said
several MPs wish to eliminate the article regarding the
automatic conversion of children.
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