The Meloni government’s strategy to combat illegal landings is working. The data published by the European Commission, the Front and the Viminale, which show the drastic reduction of landings in the last year, estimated at 65% in 2023 and 30% in 2022, are not enough. The choices made by other European countries, which until yesterday were in strong contrast with Giorgia Meloni’s anti-irregularity policy, are not enough; they are now forced to backtrack and, in the grip of a situation that has become unsustainable, to rely on that hard on those who evade the law model exported to Europe by the same Prime Minister. More data are arriving that confirm the success of the government’s plan against human trafficking in the Mediterranean.
The Viminale, today, on its X account, has in fact reported data from the International Organization for Migration referring to 2024, which brings further good news for Italy: ‘The commitment continues – we read – by the countries of origin and transit of migrants in the fight against human traffickers and irregular departures. From January to date, as reported by IOM, 15,117 migrants have been intercepted at sea and returned to Libya‘. The agreements signed by the government with the countries of origin and transit are therefore working: with Tunisia and Libya, the memoranda are now having the hoped-for effects, and the traffickers have been forced to stop their business, made on the skin of the migrants and their desperation, thanks to increased controls and an increasingly evident tightening of the authorities in charge of securing the sea and the borders.
And it is no coincidence that in this way the number of deaths in the Mediterranean has also fallen dramatically: blocking irregular flows therefore defends our borders and our security, but it also defends the lives of those who want to leave. The solution is not to invade our cities and populate them without any idea of a future. The solution is to build a future in areas where there is none, the primary objective of the Mattei plan. So the latest numbers confirm what has been clear for months: Enforcement is defending our borders, saving lives, and ensuring a better future for migrants in their home countries.
