La Sicilia, April 23 2015
EU leaders are due to hold an emergency summit Thursday to look for ways to quell the number of migrants risking their lives on journeys across the Mediterranean. Sicilian-based daily La Sicilia writes that ships, planes and surveillance programs will be used to combat the traffickers.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi outlined his proposals — which he hopes will be swiftly implemented — in a New York Times editorial on Wednesday. He said current European Union resources devoted to combating the human trafficking were inadequate, and called for “at least doubling” the money spent in the effort. He also suggested that the the EU should repeat its successful use of naval force to combat piracy around the Horn of Africa to eliminate the vessels used in human trafficking.
“Human traffickers are the slave traders of the 21st century, and they should be brought to justice,” Renzi wrote.
The number of migrants rescued by the Italian navy in 2014 was almost 170,000, while 36,000 people have reached Malta, Italy and Greece so far this year.
ABOUT THE SOURCE: La Sicilia was founded and first published in 1945. Published in the coastal city of Catania, it is the second best-selling newspaper in Sicily.