Politics
23:21, 05-Aug-2017
Italy cracks down on NGOs, conducts naval missions to fight migrant crisis
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The number of migrant arrivals in Italy in July was down dramatically year on year, however plenty are still risking their lives at sea as they cross the Mediterranean in flimsy dinghies looking for a better and brighter future on the opposite coast.
However, the means of stemming the flux of migrants are changing as rescue missions by NGOs have recently come under fire for arguably encouraging the dangerous journey through sea.
Italy's battle against migration has moved from water to land by equipping and training the coastguard in Libya, the starting point of many of the risky sea voyages that end up in Italy.
On Wednesday, Italy dispatched a navy patrol boat to Libya and seized an NGO rescue ship in dramatic steps aimed at ending the migrant crisis that has engulfed Europe in recent years.
The twin moves came as new figures revealed a surprise drop in July in the number of mainly African asylum seekers and economic migrants arriving at the country's southern ports, suggesting efforts to close the Libya-Italy route into Europe could finally be bearing fruit.
The Italian parliament gave the go-ahead for a naval mission in support of the Libyan coastguard's fight against the people traffickers behind the surge in migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean.
As part of the mission, approved by the Libyan authorities, the navy patrol boat Comandante Borsini entered the North African state's territorial waters on Wednesday afternoon, en route for the capital Tripoli, the navy said.
On board was a small advance team charged with coordinating planned joint actions with the Libyan coastguard.
Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti said Italy was providing technical support, not seeking to impose a "hostile" naval blockade designed to prevent the departure of migrant boats.
Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said last week that the naval mission was being organized following a request from Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of conflict-torn Libya's UN-backed unity government.
On the same day, a boat carrying 272 migrants, mostly Eritreans, was rescued by the NGO Mediterranean SOS around 20 nautical miles off the coast of Libya.