The director of Italy’s largest migrant reception centre has slammed left-wing open borders activists, saying mass migration policies have done far more harm than good to Italy and to migrants.
Francesco Magnano, the director of the Reception Centre for Asylum Seekers (CARA) of Mineo, has come out publicly against the policy of open borders, saying that left-wing “do-gooder” activists have helped lead to thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean, Il Giornale reports.
“From 2014 to 2017, our ports have been opened without limits and we have recorded 15,000 deaths at sea,” Magnano said, adding that closing the border, as populist Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini has done, would “force Germany and France to sit down at the negotiating table.”
Report: Migrant Sea Deaths Dropped in 2018, ‘The Salvini Method Works’ https://t.co/CIRXAXIBTv via @BreitbartNews
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Magnano showed disappointment at the recent move by Salvini to shut down the CARA of Mineo after a number of crimes had been tied to the centre, partly as a cost-saving measure. The migrants housed there are expected to be distributed to other centres across Italy with the first 50 migrants being evicted from the centre this week.
“The truth is that it was a ‘den’ of humanity,” Magnano said, downplaying the “few dozen” cases of arrests for different crimes.
The director turned his criticism to the migrant transport NGOs, saying open borders along with their activity has “created slums scattered throughout the country.”
“In our country, there are 600,000 denials. People who have lost not only the right to reception, but have lost their status, they are zombies who live in our country,” he said.
Salvini Refuses to Reopen Italy's Ports: Stopping Migrant Boats Saving Lives https://t.co/T7FAAFsvgy
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 23, 2019
The comments are a real blow to the open borders advocates who have maintained a fierce opposition to Matteo Salvini and his migrant policies, with NGOs like Doctors Without Borders (MSF) having accused Salvini of creating a “humanitarian crisis” after closing Italian ports.
Many have also opposed Salvini’s migration and security decree which scraps humanitarian residency permits and allows the authorities to evict squatters. Despite several left-wing mayors saying they would ignore the decree, the Italian public has shown overwhelming support, with a poll revealing 63 percent of Italians back Salvini on the issue.
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