Among the changes Italy will
demand to a 2017 deal with Libya on migrants is the gradual
closure of migrant centres criticised for human rights
violations and their replacement by centres run by UN agencies,
Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese told the House Wednesday in
a briefing on the Memorandum of Understanding on combatting
illegal immigration.
The deal i set to be renewed for another three years.
Italy will seek, she said, "the improvement of the detention
centres with the goal of their gradual closure to achieve
centres run by the UN agencies," she said.
The 2017 deal, which drastically cut migrant flows from
Libya, has been criticised for pushing back migrants to Libya.
Italy has denied claims it negotiated with militias and human
traffickers.
Lamorgese said that when the deal was signed, migrants flows
were "concerning" but "today they have fallen".
However, she said, a "drop in our attention on migratory
dynamics and humanitarian risks is unjustifiable.
Sge stressed that there had been a "sharp reduction in
victims at sea".
"The memorandum contributed to these results, but it is also
important to avoid the isolation of the Libyan authorities."
She said the UN-backed government in Tripoli had voiced
willingness to modify the deal.
Centre-left Democratic Party (PD) former chairman Matteo
Orfini called Lamorgese's testimony "embarrassing and
hypocritical".
"'The concentration camps are migrant centres. The memorandum
a framework to be defended. The Libyans trustworthy partners'.
Do we really want to continue to pretend we don't know?"
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