The new hard-Right government in Italy says it will no longer accept refugees who sail over from the coast of Africa
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has demanded that Germany and Norway take in around 1,000 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by what she called “pirate ships” operated by NGOs flying European flags.
Her new hard-Right government says it will no longer accept refugees and migrants who sail over from the coast of North Africa and is considering banning humanitarian rescue vessels from its waters.
“If an NGO ship flies, let’s say, the flag of Germany, there are two possibilities: either Germany recognises it and takes care of it, or that ship becomes a pirate ship,” Ms Meloni said in remarks that are soon to be included in a new book by a prominent Italian journalist.
Around 1,000 asylum seekers have been rescued in recent days by three NGO boats, one of them flagged to Germany and another to Norway.