A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #5-26 - Mediterranean Massacre. New Law, Closer Borders (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Nearly 1,000 people missing in the Mediterranean in just a few days in 
the second half of January. ---- This is yet another terrible massacre 
at Europe's borders. It occurred during Cyclone Harry, the extreme storm 
that reached its peak in the central Mediterranean between January 20th 
and 21st. Eyewitnesses speak of entire convoys being swallowed up by the 
waves. But the causes of this massacre are not natural, not only because 
the particularly violent nature of this storm, as some analyses 
indicate, is attributable to the effects of climate change, but also 
because of the border closure policies of Italy and the European Union.

Foreign Minister Tajani reportedly told the press on February 2nd: 
"Human traffickers are murderous criminals. You don't send a boat out 
into a stormy sea knowing it's sending them to certain death." But the 
Italian state is among the main perpetrators of this massacre, because 
it is the border closure policies it implements together with the EU 
that force people to undertake such risky journeys. In recent years, the 
government has imposed ever-increasing restrictions on NGOs conducting 
search and rescue operations at sea, with an openly repressive policy 
that has removed both essential lifesaving equipment and inconvenient 
witnesses of pushback and pullback from the most dangerous areas of the 
sea. As if that weren't enough, the Italian state supports the 
governments of some North African states in their racist and violent 
policies, aimed at terrorizing those, especially those from sub-Saharan 
countries, who live on the coasts and in cities awaiting embarkation for 
Europe. These acts of violence, often carried out by police forces 
trained and funded by the EU itself, put the lives and safety of 
thousands of people at risk, forcing them to leave even in the most 
desperate conditions.

According to the NGO Mediterranea, it was Tunisian police forces who 
forced departures from Tunisia in those days, with raids and the 
destruction of informal camps near Sfax. Since the 2023 memorandum, 
Italy and the EU have directly supported the Tunisian police force and 
coast guard with significant resources and funding. Furthermore, Italy 
has maintained a bilateral military mission in Tunisia since 2019. The 
conditions for massacres to occur are set by governments, and sea 
conditions are increasing the number of deaths and missing.

The Italian government's approval of a new immigration bill on February 
11, while the missing persons from this latest massacre are still being 
counted, sounds like the government's vindication of this murderous 
border policy.

Let's be clear: this isn't Meloni's anomaly in government, nor is it a 
useless propaganda move, as the opposition likes to claim-apparently 
hoping for more effective and efficient racist policies. The bill, the 
text of which is not yet known because it hasn't yet been submitted to 
Parliament, implements the new European Pact for Asylum approved by the 
EU Parliament in May 2024. This European reform is a development of the 
repressive and racist policies already present in the EU asylum system. 
Of course, a fascist government can implement this reform by further 
forcing its implementation in a racist manner. This is the gist of the 
statement issued by the Council of Ministers after the bill's approval. 
It discusses the closure of territorial waters in crisis management, 
already called a "naval blockade" by the press of all stripes that like 
to please the government. The point isn't propaganda. This point of the 
bill will materially reinforce the policy of death being waged in the 
central Mediterranean. One of the key aspects of the European reform is 
strengthening the management of asylum procedures at the border or 
directly outside the border in external countries. This will have a 
direct impact on Italy and will lead to a further increase in violence 
at the EU's borders. The asylum system as we know it is expected to 
radically change, creating clearly separate channels. Based on border 
screening, those submitting an asylum application deemed "unfounded" or 
asylum seekers from countries with an asylum acceptance rate for their 
own citizens of less than 20% will be assigned to an accelerated 
procedure. This criterion would also include people from Nigeria, 
Somalia, Sierra Leone, and Sierra Leone.

https://umanitanova.org/strage-nel-mediterraneo-nuova-legge-frontiere-piu-chiuse/
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