Italy’s far-right prime minister has said she will not allow the country to become “Europe’s refugee camp”, after thousands of people seeking refuge landed on its shores, prompting France to tighten controls at its border with Italy.

Giorgia Meloni told the UN general assembly in New York that the huge numbers arriving in Lampedusa, a tiny Sicilian island that for years has been the first port of call for people crossing a perilous stretch of the Mediterranean Sea from north Africa, had placed Italy “under incredible pressure”.

      • Bombed Gaddafi out of power, leaving power vacuum and destruction that has transformed a once stable country into a failed state riled by civil war after civil since. This was just a bit over ten years ago. I’m saying this while being no fan of Gaddafi.

        • The man had literal rape rooms in his palace, but that doesn’t mean you bomb the shit out of the country and just hope it works itself out.

          Or if you do, don’t complain about the refugees…

          Especially when you’re fuckin Italy and it was one of your colonies.

          • your fascist fucking grandpa is literally Mussolini

            That’s not Meloni, I think you might be confusing her with Alessandra Mussolini. Even then, I don’t think it’s fair to hold people accountable for the actions of their ancestors, even when said ancestors are dictators such as “literally Mussolini”.

            and it’s one of his old colonies

            If anything what made the country so destabilized, ultimately leading to Gaddafi’s rise, was the “liberation” (read as neocolonialism) brought by the British. A similar fate happened to all the other former Italian colonies such as Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea.

            I’m all for the right of self determination of people and decolonization was a traumatic process for many African countries (think of French Algeria for one), but it’s probably not a coincidence that all of those territories are now failed or war torn states. A smoother and more democratic process after WW2 might probably have helped the regions, but it’s not fair to blame Italy for it’s lack.

        • I’m saying this while being no fan of Gaddafi.

          As well you fucking shouldn’t be since you didn’t live under Gadaffis rule. In fact, I don’t think you know the first damn thing as to what the hell you’re talking about.

  •  m-p{3}   ( @mp3@lemmy.ca ) 
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    2610 months ago

    NIMBY at its finest. I’m not saying to take everyone no matter what, but helping eachothers is how we thrive as a species. We’re better than this.

    •  cyruseuros   ( @wurosh@lemmy.ml ) 
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      10 months ago

      I know nothing about her politics. I know even less about modern Italian power structures. But I do know that you using someone’s bloodline as an argument against them (or for them) makes me less inclined to hear you out.

      The apparent, less-than-measured vitriol towards an entire nation (which could be a misreading, or purely affectational) doesn’t help either.

      Take that for what it’s worth - which might not be much.

        • And in case the passive-aggressive - and really childish - “lol, uh huh” was meant to imply I was somehow covertly politically aligned with her; I’m both on the wrong continent and on the wrong side of the political spectrum for that.

          Please consider shaking this bad-faith miscaracterization/so-you’re-saying quote + snarky comment 1-2 combo. It’s not very helpful to anyone - yourself in particular - thought it might feel like it.

          •  Armen12   ( @Armen12@lemm.ee ) 
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            310 months ago

            Being disingenuous and saying you don’t know someone when you clearly do doesn’t warrant any proper response, people arguing in bad faith isn’t a new concept

            • I tried to be as charitable as I could here, I really did. Clearly you don’t share the same approach to life. That’s alright, it typically passes after college.

              I don’t know what to tell you other than I spent my entire adult life in Asia, having left Europe in large part because I didn’t feel welcome there due to a mixture of my skin color and my ethnicity. I stopped following political developments there ages ago, and this is the first time I heard this woman’s name.

              I also happen to be heavily left leaning, and I am sick of people I politically align with, who are too busy being professionally outraged to get anything done. Change hearts and minds; stop looking for “snapplause” moments. Those people already agree with you. You’ve done nothing, won nothing, but a dopamine shot.

              …I suspect the bits of personal information above matter to you for some reason, and that makes me profoundly sad. I wish you the best, and I hope that one day your heart opens just a crack more.

        • I neither have nor had any intention of defending her.

          My only intention was to point out the effect the approach above - and now below - has one somene with absolutely no dog in this fight.

          While I am a sample of one, that’s an interesting data point for someone looking to advance their political view point - less so for someone looking to score internet points.

  • This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Giorgia Meloni told the UN general assembly in New York that the huge numbers arriving in Lampedusa, a tiny Sicilian island that for years has been the first port of call for people crossing a perilous stretch of the Mediterranean Sea from north Africa, had placed Italy “under incredible pressure”.

    During a visit to Lampedusa on Sunday, Meloni, who took power last October vowing to stop illegal immigration, said “the future of Europe is at stake” unless EU countries worked together to come up with “serious solutions”.

    Meloni was the key protagonist of a controversial £105m deal signed in July between the EU and Tunisia, from where the vast majority of people are setting off, to stem irregular migration.

    Italy and the EU have a similar deal with Libya, where people have reported severe human rights abuses in detention camps, including being beaten, tortured and raped.

    The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who accompanied Meloni during the visit to Lampedusa, where they both pledged the swift deportation of those turned down for asylum, urged EU member states to make use of a mechanism enabling them to voluntarily take in migrants to help ease the burden on Italy.

    Ten years after Pope Francis made a landmark visit to Lampedusa to show solidarity with migrants, he will join Catholic bishops from the Mediterranean this weekend in the French city of Marseille to make the call more united.


    The original article contains 853 words, the summary contains 237 words. Saved 72%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!