Displaying items by tag: Italy

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has suggested that the EU could learn from Italy’s controversial new policy of processing migrants offshore in Albania. She has proposed new legislation to increase deportations, noting that only 20% of irregular migrants ordered to leave EU countries actually do so. Italy’s scheme, which began on 15 October when sixteen migrants were transferred to Albanian processing centres, has sparked criticism from opposition parties and NGOs for being costly and potentially harmful to human rights. The €650 million project excludes vulnerable groups like pregnant women and children. Prime minister Giorgia Meloni defended the scheme as a courageous approach which ‘perfectly reflected the European spirit’. Recently Germany, France, and Poland have tightened their borders and immigration laws, driven in part by security concerns following violent incidents involving failed asylum seekers.

Central Europe has been severely affected by Storm Boris, bringing heavy rain and snow and causing flooding across Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Austria, with at least 24 reported deaths. In Poland, the town of Nysa has seen the evacuation of 40,000 residents, and other towns face severe damage after rivers overflowed. A state of natural disaster has been declared, with Wroclaw expecting more flooding. Meanwhile, rivers like the Oder and Danube are rising, with Slovakia, Hungary, and Croatia also preparing for potential floods. Emergency services, aided by the military, are working tirelessly across the region to protect communities. On 19 September, Storm Boris reached northern Italy, with similar reports  of devastation: see Extreme rainfall is becoming more frequent and intense across central Europe, as across much of the world.

An Indian ‘fixer’, Tara Chand Tanwar, is likely to face indictment for a long history of criminal activity. One example concerns Sandeep, from Rajasthan, who was working in Italy but lost his job in 2015. He paid €5,000 to Tanwar for a new job in logistics. However, the job exposed him to exploitative conditions, including twelve-hour workdays, lack of a contract, and overcrowded living arrangements. Sandeep’s fear of losing his residency kept him compliant. From 2012 to 2022, Tanwar used weaknesses in Italy’s migration and procurement laws to implement a system of bribery, blackmail, and mafia-like tactics. His operation funnelled millions through bank accounts linked to forced labour. Tanwar’s influence in Rajasthan, a region with high unemployment, had made him a pivotal figure in arranging jobs for hundreds of hopeful migrants, though he lacked the required licences. Workers were unaware of his illegal status and became trapped in debt.

Government-aligned Italian MEPs are defending a plan to detain migrant arrivals in Albania, despite NGOs calling it ‘cruel’. Two Italian-funded migrant reception centres in Albania, part of a five-year agreement, face delays and are now unlikely to open before the end of the year. Under this deal, Albania will host up to 36,000 asylum seekers a year while Italian authorities handle their cases. The upfront costs are arguably minor compared to managing migration in Italy, but critics, including Amnesty International, argue that the plan violates human rights by detaining migrants for long periods and externalising asylum procedures. The externalisation model, also seen in the now-discarded UK government’s Rwanda plan, is seen as effective by some EU states but raises concerns about human rights and costs.

On 7 November, sixteen alleged leaders and associates of the Gambino crime family were arrested in the US and Italy. The charges against them include racketeering, extortion, witness retaliation, conspiracy and fraud. Another suspect is still at large. The US-based suspects were due to appear in court in New York on Wednesday. Prosecutors have outlined a pattern of intimidation and violent assaults intended to embezzle funds and defraud unions and employee benefit plans. The defendants were also charged with threatening witnesses, money laundering and firearms offences. The Gambino family is one of the five prominent New York-area mafia syndicates collectively known as La Cosa Nostra. The defendants face maximum sentences of between twenty and 180 years in prison.

Italian evangelical Christians have protested against the ‘active and public’ participation of Thomas Schirrmacher, secretary-general of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) in a large ecumenical prayer vigil organised in the Vatican on 30 September. This featured prayers led by the heads of twenty Christian confessions, including Mr Schirrmacher. The Italian Evangelical Alliance (AEI) said, ‘We are confused and disappointed. Once you pray publicly with the Pope, in St. Peter’s Square, in front of a Marian portrait, embracing the message of spiritual unity with liberals and orthodox leaders, your alleged distinction becomes secondary.’ Pope Francis said the event would help to sow unity among Christian confessions. According to the event’s website, he shared ‘personal memories of his ecumenical journey’. The Spanish Evangelical Alliance has also criticised WEA’s participation: see

Over 100 migrants died and 80 were recovered alive after their overloaded boat of 200+ people sank in rough seas off southern Italy. It was trying to land near Crotone. 43 bodies were recovered from a nearby beach resort. The migrants were from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia. Large numbers of people fleeing conflict and poverty cross from Africa to Italy each year. Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who pledged to stem the migrant flow into Italy, expressed deep sorrow, blaming the deaths on traffickers. One survivor was arrested for migrant trafficking. Pope Francis, who often defends the rights of migrants, has said he is praying for the dead, the missing and those who survived. Sadly, 15 days earlier, 73 migrants went missing and were presumed dead after their boat sank off the Libyan coast in a boat en route to Europe on the world's deadliest migratory sea crossing.

Giorgia Meloni, the favourite to become Italy’s next prime minister, has a passion for fantasy author Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. She regards the legends of the rings of power as much more than fantasy. They inspire her worldview and politics. When she was elected to cabinet in 2008 she vowed not to be corrupted by the ‘ring of power’. Later she posed for a magazine profile next to a statue of Gandalf, Tolkien’s bearded wizard. The hobbits’ attachment to their pristine Shire has been regarded as a rallying call for nationalism and rejection of modernism by generations of post-fascist youths. Although Meloni resents being linked to Italy's fascist past, her Brothers of Italy party embraces a slogan adopted by the fascists – ‘God, fatherland and family’. See also

The Omicron variant has spread globally. Leaders hoping lockdowns and travel bans had ended now face disruptions that could affect their economies and popularity. Italy’s PM Mario Draghi has made economic recovery a cornerstone of his leadership, but he is under fire for enforcing some of the strictest vaccine mandates in Europe. His honeymoon period could be derailed if further lockdowns or disruptions send the economy into a nose-dive. Inflation and supply-chain chaos are headaches for America. Uncertainty over Omicron threatens to make things worse after a wobbly economy and a shambolic departure of troops from Afghanistan. Biden’s handling of the pandemic previously inspired voter confidence but has now caused his popularity to drop. It is unlikely that he will take risks that could harm the US economy. China’s president is pursuing an increasingly elusive zero Covid strategy. If Omicron is more transmissible than previous variants, China's leadership could be questioned domestically.

When the G20 leaders met in Rome last weekend, at their first face to face meeting since the pandemic started, climate change and Covid were on the agenda. The talks come amid increasingly dire warnings for the future if urgent action is not taken to cut emissions. The G20 group of countries and the EU account for 80% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. According to Reuters, a draft communiqué outlined a promise from the G20 to work towards limiting the rise in temperatures to 1.5C, saying it ‘will require meaningful and effective actions by all countries’. Covid vaccine equality is also on many leaders' minds. Italy’s prime minister said that just 3% of the six billion Covid vaccines administered worldwide had gone to the poorest countries, which was ‘morally unacceptable’. He called fellow leaders to do ‘all we can’ to vaccinate 70% of the world's population by the middle of 2022.