Medical-aid charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hit back on Monday at those who have suggested migrant-rescue operations in the Mediterranean by NGOs could be benefiting human traffickers. MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said it was "indignant about the cynical attacks on the work at sea of the NGOs by some political figures, which have seen a crescendo of venom and false accusations over the last few hours". It added that it "will evaluate in which seats to intervene to protect its work, image and credibility".
Deputy Lower House Speaker and 5-Star Movement (M5S) bigwig Luigi Di Maio on Monday reiterated his call for greater clarity on the "business of immigration", after anti-mafia writer Roberto Saviano accused him of seeking votes even at the cost of higher migrant deaths. In an interview with the newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano, Di Maio said that it was taboo to speak about immigration as a business, since "many are living off of it", but added that he wanted answers and "not votes" in calling for greater clarity on the issue. He stressed that there was no "aggressive targeting" of NGOs involved in rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea but that "we have raised the issue due to the many alarms received on deaths at sea and the increase in landings. We want to shed light on certain disfunctions - as does the Catania prosecutor's office, which would like to open an investigation - and like Frontex, the EU agency tasked with the issue."
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