Italian Official Wants to Fine NGOs for Bringing in Refugees

The Guardian reports that Italy’s government is planning to fine NGO rescue boats for each immigrant they allow on Italian soil.

The government’s plan consists of a decree that fines boats €5,500 for each migrant they allow to disembark on Italian soil.

Unsurprisingly, NGOs criticized Salvini’s proposal describing it as a “declaration of war against the NGOs who are saving lives at sea.”

This new decree bolsters the powers of the Italian Ministry of the Interior over the question of immigration. Additionally, it aims to end NGO rescues. In the case of Médecins Sans Frontières, they would have had to pay €440m for rescuing 80,000 people if the decree was in effect during the last three years.

Claudia Lodesani, the president of MSF Italy, declared that “The new decree is threatening legal principles and the duty of saving lives.” Lodesani added, “It is like fining ambulances for carrying patients to the hospital.”

Salvini has consistently stated that Italian waters are closed off to NGO rescue vessels. Unlike most European leaders, Salvini has taken a hardline approach to mass migration.

BLP recently reported on Salvini’s  successful efforts to bulldoze a refugee camp and deport 1,500 illegal immigrants a few a months ago.

Seeing some of the negative effects of mass migration in countries like the United Kingdom and France has motivated several populist leaders like Salvini to lead the charge against the EU’s mass migration agenda.

Salvini’s party, La Lega, is expected to make serious gains in the European Parliament later this month.