Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, will convene a cabinet conference on Thursday close to the scene of a fatal shipwreck as controversy surrounds the right-wing administration’s immigration policies.
Meloni is anticipated to honor the victims of the tragedy on February 28, in which at least 72 people perished when the crammed boat they were traveling on sank in rough seas just off Calabria.
Cutro and Crotone, the towns closest to the shipwreck, are still in a state of raw grief as family members travel great distances to claim their loved ones and corpses continue to be found at sea or washed up on beaches this week.
Meloni’s arrival is in response to a request made by Crotone mayor Vincenzo Voce on Saturday. Voce stated that the community, who was “struck by immense pain,” had been waiting for a word from you, a call, or a sign, which had not yet arrived.
Far-right On a platform of reducing sea arrivals, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party won elections last year, and the ruling alliance, which also includes Matteo Salvini’s League, has tightened restrictions on migrant rescue organizations.
The government’s decision to approach migrant boats in the Central Mediterranean, the world’s most hazardous crossing, as a law enforcement matter rather than a humanitarian one, according to critics, may have fatally delayed the rescue last month.
Accusations that Meloni and Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi failed to act to save the boat, which left from Turkey and was transporting citizens of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Syria, have been rejected by both men.
Investigators have begun looking into the tragedy, which took place despite Frontex, the EU border agency, warning Italian officials about an overcrowded ship, probably operated by traffickers, off the coast.
