Italian General Proposes Blocking All Ships Suspected of Carrying illegals

LAMPEDUSA, ITALY - OCTOBER 09: Images taken from a AB412 helicopter with the Second Regime
Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

Italian General Vincenzo Santo has proposed that the country’s naval forces work with Libya and Tunisia and block suspicious boats in the Mediterranean that may be carrying illegal migrants.

General Santo, the former head of NATO operations in Afghanistan, has called for a maritime blockade on migrant boats reaching Italy and said that any migrants who are not entitled to asylum in Italy will be repatriated by the navy.

“But let’s talk about care, not remedy that requires a political will that does not exist, which would consist precisely in implementing a maritime ban together with the Tunisian and Libyan navy and blockade at sea of any suspicious vessel,” Santo said.

According to a report for the newspaper Il Giornale, the General welcomed recent moves from Sicilian Governor Nello Musumeci who signed an ordinance to close Sicily’s migrant hotspots after the island began to be overwhelmed in recent weeks with new arrivals who had to be quarantined due to the coronavirus.

“By 24 August, all migrants present in hotspots and in each reception centre must be… transferred and/or relocated to other facilities outside the Sicilian Region, since it is not possible to guarantee the stay in the island in accordance with the health measures of prevention of contagion,” Musumeci said.

According to General Santo, the Sicilian governor’s actions may not be enough to convince the leftist coalition government to change course. “But it could turn into a fundamental political signal,” he said.

He also appealed to military commanders aiding illegal migration saying, “When a commander realizes that the soldiers are not being soldiers, but the transporters of irregular immigration, the taxi drivers of the sea, then there is only one thing to do: resign.”

Italy has seen a surge of migrants in Sicily and the island of Lampedusa in recent weeks, with some migrants also testing positive for the Wuhan coronavirus, which has led to fears that more illegal migration could lead to a second wave of infection across the country.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com

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