Northern League Leader
Matteo Salvini said Thursday that he will travel to Nigeria next
month to convince Africans to stop migrating to Europe.
"In June I will go to Nigeria, we will look at how to help
these people in their home," Salvini said during a visit to the
Marche town of Ascoli Piceno.
"The government has already spent too much," on rescuing
migrants and resettling them, he said.
"First, our people, then them," said Salvini, outlining his
priorities.
Tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty, many
from Africa and the Middle East, have taken the dangerous trip
across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
Thousands of them have died en route as their boats head
for Italian shores, the southernmost points in Europe.
The International Organization for Migration has said that
more than 1,800 people died while trying to cross the
Mediterranean in the first four months of 2015 alone.
But Salvini and his party are opposed to the rescue and
resettlement efforts, saying smuggler boats must be destroyed
and asylum seekers processed in Africa.
He repeated that message Thursday in San Benedetto del
Tronto, near Ascoli Piceno, where protestors shouted insults and
threw objects but were held back by police.
Officers searched backpacks and purses before allowing any
one near the piazza where Salvini was speaking.
Protesters have often dogged Salvini's political events,
including a number near Palermo on Wednesday who threw tomatoes
and eggs.
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