Slander to say we let kids die in shipwrecks - Meloni

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 22 - Premier Giorgia Meloni said Wednesday that it was slanderous to say that her government was letting people die at sea as she addressed the Lower House before this week's EU summit.
    Her government has come under fire over the February 26 shipwreck off the Calabrian town of Cutro in which at least 87 people died.
    Meloni said that groundless "insinuations" had been made suggesting the government had not wanted the victims of the Cutro disaster to be saved.
    "To tell the world that we let children die in the Mediterranean is not just slander against the government, but also against the Italian State, against the men and women of the forces of law and order, against our whole system," Meloni said.
    Italy has long been pressing its EU partners to shoulder more of the burden of migrant reception which falls largely on Italy across the central Mediterranean.
    The premier said that Italy has been "left alone to do this job, often beyond the national borders".
    She added that, despite this, her government has a good record on saving people at sea.
    "According to the UNHCR, a total of 25,692 people died in the Mediterranean between 2013 and 2023," Meloni said.
    "We know that the risk of something going wrong is intrinsic in the departures and deaths at sea have occurred with all governments.
    "I looked at the percentages of the people saved with respect to the number of crossings and the figures for this government are lower.
    "The data dismantles the propaganda". (ANSA).