Italian minister to migrants: ‘The good times are over … Pack your bags’

by WorldTribune Staff, June 3, 2018

Italy’s new interior minister is calling for a reduction in the “number of arriving migrants and increase in the number of expulsions.”

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini

“The good times for illegals is over – get ready to pack your bags,” Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said at a June 2 rally in Italy’s north.

“Countries need to start doing their job and no more smugglers should be docking in Italian ports,” said Salvini, head of the League political party.

Italy’s new populist government, which includes the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the League, was sworn in last week. The parties insist that half a million undocumented migrants in Italy must be deported “as a priority.”

Salvini was on the road seeking to rally support for his party’s candidates in municipal elections later this month, AFP reported.

The interior minister blasted the billions of euros set aside by the Italian government to deal with demands of asylum seekers.

In 2017, the former government announced a budget of some 4.2 billion euros for migrants, of which 18 percent is for rescues at sea, 13 percent for health care, and 65 percent for migrant reception centers, which host some 170,000 people, the AFP report said.

“Enough of Sicily being the refugee camp of Europe,” Salvini said. “I will not stand by and do nothing while there are landings after landings. We need deportation centers.”

Italy has seen more than 700,000 migrants arrive since 2013.


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