Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Georgia Meloni asked the United Nations to wage a “global war” against illegal migration.
This comes as migrant boats landed again on Italy’s beleaguered Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.
Speaking at the UN General Debate in New York, she called on the United Nations to wage a “global war” against human traffickers.
On Thursday, more than 700 people arrived within hours at the island in boats from Africa, local media reported.
Since Wednesday, more than 20 new boats have landed, most of them from Tunisia.
Lampedusa’s immigration reception centre remained completely overcrowded with more than 1,100 people.
The small island of Lampedusa, located between Sicily and North Africa, has been a European migration hotspot for years.
Previous week, thousands of migrants again landed there in boats from North Africa, with more than 5,000 arriving on a single day.
The authorities there have declared a state of emergency.
At the weekend, Meloni visited the island with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
During her UN speech, Meloni said: “I am convinced that it is the task of this organisation to declare global war on human traffickers without hypocrisy and without compromise.”
Italy, she said, was ready to be at the “forefront” of this.
Meloni has leading a coalition of right-wing parties for nearly a year.
Tackling illegal migration was one of her most important election promises.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, 130,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea since the beginning of the year l, almost twice as many as in the same period in 2022.
