Italy's Mare Nostrum (Our Sea)
migrant search-and-rescue operation should become a
multinational mission along the lines of the EU's Atalanta
anti-piracy operation in the Horn of Africa, Navy Chief-of-staff
Giuseppe De Giorgi said Monday.
In this way, Italy would no longer have to bear the
economic brunt of saving thousands of lives between north Africa
and southern Italy, the admiral told an annual meeting of the
Roman Catholic Communion and Liberation movement in the Adriatic
resort town of Rimini.
Since Mare Nostrum kicked off in October last year, as many
as 113,000 people have been plucked from the sea by Italy's
Navy, coast guard, and merchant vessels, the admiral said.
Most are from war-torn Syria and Eritrea, he said.
It takes as much as nine million euros a month to keep Mare
Nostrum afloat, against the Navy's total monthly budget of 9.2
million euros, he added.
That number includes fuel and operational costs to maintain
five ships backed by helicopters and other patrol aircraft.
"This means we had to suspend our training exercises. We
can only carry on if this spending is reimbursed, otherwise we
can't make it," he alleged.
The multinational force could be led by Italy, or it could
have a rotating command with the navies of other countries such
as France and Spain, the admiral said.
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