The acting governor of the southern Italian region of Calabria Antonino Spirlì has called for immediate state intervention to put a halt to the non-stop landings of African migrants.
“The uncontrolled landings of migrants frustrate the efforts of the southern regions in combating the pandemic,” Spirlì warned this week.
“Prime Minister Draghi and Minister Lamorgese must intervene swiftly, before it’s too late,” he added, in reference to Luciana Lamorgese, Italy’s Minister of the Interior.
The flow of migrants crossing the Mediterranean into Italy has continued uninterrupted, with the arrival of 2,128 people on the Italian island of Lampedusa in just one day.
“In Lampedusa, in the last 24 hours there have been 20 landings, for a total of more than 2 thousand people, of various nationalities, who arrived in our country,” Spirlì noted on Monday.
“These data depict a worrying situation, which our territories cannot afford due to the risks associated with infections from COVID-19 and the total absence of controls,” the governor added. “It is a paradoxical situation to which the Government cannot turn a blind eye.”
Spirlì said that the region of Calabria has been fighting every day to contain the epidemic and is finally starting to get back on its feet, but the constant influx of immigrants threatens to foil its efforts.
“Our organizational machine has finally come into operation and it is not acceptable that the results achieved are jeopardized by the incomprehensible laxity that cloaks immigration policies and measures,” he asserted.
“I hope that common sense prevails and the Draghi government makes all the necessary decisions to avert a new health emergency,” he said.
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