On Tuesday, the Libyan Parliament-designated Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha expressed his “deep regret for the loss of human lives in the central Mediterranean, the latest of which was the loss of 30 people who were left missing at sea last Sunday.”
In a thread on his Twitter account, Bashagha called for “opening an international investigation over such recurrent tragic incidents.” He urged the European Union and Italian authorities to adopt more mature migrant policies.
The Libyan Premier confirmed that “the problems caused by illegal immigration will not be resolved in light of an illegitimate government in Tripoli, which is unable to fulfil its security and humanitarian responsibilities.”
He also accused Italy’s right-wing government led by Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni of “adopting a random and selective policy to combat the phenomenon of illegal migration. In addition to its energy supplies across the Mediterranean, which requires real partnership through a legitimate gateway to a unified, stable, and secure state.”
Bashagha pointed out that Meloni “never wants to admit her grave mistake when she decided to support and deal with an illegitimate government in Libya to combat human trafficking. It is not acceptable to blame Libya for the effects of the humanitarian and economic migration crisis.”
Notably, seventeen migrants were rescued after the latest deadly shipwreck in the Mediterranean. Italy faced growing criticism for its response to the crisis.
Those rescued were taken to the Sicilian town of Pozzallo, Italian newswire ANSA reported, and said they were all originally from Bangladesh.
Thirty people were feared drowned after the boat from Libya capsized, due to bad weather on Sunday, Italy’s Coast Guard said.
The tragedy follows a 26 February shipwreck near the southern region of Calabria, in which at least 79 people died.
Alarm Phone, a charity that picks up calls from migrant vessels in distress, blamed Italy for not sending its Coast Guard earlier, despite being repeatedly alerted on Saturday that the boat was in trouble.
“Clearly, the Italian authorities were trying to avoid that the people would be brought to Italy, delaying intervention so that the so-called Libyan Coast Guard would arrive and forcibly return people to Libya,” it said in a statement late on Sunday
Rome’s ability to rescue migrants at sea has come under scrutiny following last month’s shipwreck, and the issue is piling pressure on the rightwing government which took office in October. Meloni has promised to curb the influx of migrants, according to Reuters.
Instead, arrivals have surged, with over 20,000 people reaching Italy by sea this year, more than triple the around 6,150 who arrived in the same period of 2022, official figures show.
Over 4,500 people reached Italy from 9-11 March alone.
