Premier Giorgia Meloni told her first question time Wednesday the government's conscience was clear regarding a shipwreck off Libya Sunday in which 30 people died.
Answering a question from +Europe leader Riccardo Magi on the boat that went down outside Italy's search and rescue zone, Meloni said: "As long as there are departures on boats in terrible condition and with terrible weather conditions there will be a loss of life.
"We must invest in legal routes, and that is exactly what the government is doing.
"Our consciences are clear, I hope that those who attack the government but won't say a word about traffickers can say the same".
The shipwreck off Libya came two weeks after a bigger one at Cutro in Calabria where at least 86 people died and where the government has been asked why the coast guard did not intervene.
It has replied that the smugglers who steered the boat from Turkey evaded controls.
Meloni held a cabinet meeting at Cutro last Thursday at which the government passed a decree cracking down on smugglers and boosting legal passages for immigrants.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
