Immigration: Italy as a role model for the UK?
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has praised Italy's immigration policy during a visit to Rome. Italy had made remarkable progress in cooperating with countries along migration routes and fighting people trafficking gangs, Starmer said at a press conference with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. His comments draw criticism as well as praise.
We must retain our moral compass
The UK should not follow Italy's example, warns The Guardian:
“Its leaders have been at the vanguard of a drive to put some of the world's most vulnerable people out of sight and out of mind. ... Eight more migrant deaths in the Channel at the weekend underlined the human cost of the tragically dysfunctional status quo, and Labour is right to emphasise the need for cross-border collaboration in tackling human trafficking gangs. But a centre-left government should also be in the business of crafting a compassionate response to the crisis, including the provision of more safe routes and a far better resourced domestic asylum system. Ms Meloni is no role model for Labour.”
London can indeed learn from Rome
Cooperating on the issue of immigration is a good, pragmatic approach, The Independent lauds:
“The important feature of the Italian system, sometimes too easily dismissed, is that it provides for genuine refugees, once their claims have been assessed, to take up residence in Italy – something not possible under the UK-Rwanda scheme. ... It would be foolish to think that Britain has nothing to learn from Italy in this field, whatever the current political complexion of the Italian government. Italy has made progress and, crucially, hasn't felt it necessary to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, a facile solution that has become so fashionable on the hard right of British politics.”