It’s a beautiful trap hatched by the never admitted but obvious collaboration of NGOs and European “friends”. The government risks shooting itself in the foot in its haste to pull out. The first off-target has already flown off. And that’s illustrated by the 145 migrants disembarked from Humanity 1, compared to just 35 who remained on board. A setback in which we risk an encore if, as a captain after Carola Rackete threatens, the German ship will not leave the port of Catania. Obviously the government deserves some mitigating circumstances. An executive who came to power with a promise to change the rules of landing could not sit idly by. Especially after a week in which the weather guaranteed the arrival of over five thousand migrants. An unbearable number for a government that not only has to guarantee election promises, but also a civil reception. To understand this, just go back to July 2017. Back then, Democratic Party Minister Marco Minniti, forced to deal with 12,000 landings in 48 hours, spoke of “a risk to the country’s democratic stability.”
Today the numbers are lower and democracy is in safe hands, but it will certainly be impossible to guarantee dignified hospitality to so many irregular people. All of these eventualities have made the government ambush more deadly. The ambush, triggered as soon as Giorgia Meloni appeared in Brussels, was interrupted by the “no” from Berlin and Oslo to the legitimate request to take over the recovered migrants from two ships registered as “Humanity 1” and “Ocean Viking” in Germany and in Norway. Two “nos” that are unacceptable due to a law of the sea that equates ships with the territory whose flag they fly. From that moment, however, defeat was inevitable. The savory smile that the European authorities gave Meloni showed the selfishness of 26 European partners who agree that NGOs are the best tool to unload the burden of irregular immigration on Italy. However, the defeat represents a valuable lesson and underscores two realities Minniti understood back in 2017. The first is that neither solidarity nor cooperation can be expected from the European partners. Second, NGO ships represent the last mile of human trafficking. Having established these two truths, the battle cannot be won either in the Strait of Sicily or in our ports. Beaten by NGOs and ruled by European indifference, the Sicilian Channel is now an obligatory passage to our shores. As already seen with Salvini and confirmed by the story of “Humanity 1”, the ports are instead the antechamber of defeat. The approval of USMAF doctors, who are willing to certify the fragility of 145 of 179 migrants to avoid accusations and threats, has only spared an “all clear” sanctioned by the duty judge. All in the deafening chorus of information that is absolutely dystonic compared to the majority of public opinion.
But the most important lesson concerns future movements. From now on, the government must be aware that the only way to avoid the traps of NGOs and Europe is through Libya. If we are to stop human trafficking, we must return to exert our influence in the former colony by relaunching the collaboration with the Tripoli Coast Guard that began in 2017. It is a long and complex road that could lead us to a clash with Turkey, the true demiurge of our former colony.
The only alternative is to amend the Dublin Treaty, which obliges us to guarantee assistance or repatriation to illegal immigrants who have landed on our territory. But first we would have to convince the 26 European “friends”. A mission so unlikely that even the prospect of a confrontation with Erdogan’s Turkey is more acceptable.