Posted on 08/02/2017 2:28:14 PM PDT by Lorianne
Italy's parliament has approved a plan to send naval boats to Libya as part of efforts to stop migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
Two vessels are being deployed initially, in what the government says is an operation to help the Libyan coastguard and target people smugglers.
Italy is the main recipient of migrants making the dangerous crossing from Libya.
Earlier Italy impounded a German rescue ship on the island of Lampedusa.
The crew on board the Iuventa, operated by German NGO Jugend Rettet, is being questioned on the orders of the Italian prosecutor.
While the NGO said the check was "standard procedure", police said there the ship was seized due to evidence of "facilitating illegal immigration".
Two Syrian migrants were taken ashore from the vessel, Italian media reported.
Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island near North Africa, has struggled to house boatloads of migrants in recent years.
Jugend Rettet is one of several search-and-rescue NGOs operating in the Mediterranean that has rejected an Italian code of conduct, which had just come in to play to deal with the issue.
The NGOs object to the requirement for armed police to board their ships and for rescuers to stop transferring migrants from one ship to another. They want to minimise their trips back to port, because those trips cost them precious time and money.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Forward defense, long overdue.
Make sure they have machine guns and plenty of ammo.
Stand-by to ram!
Too little too late. I’m glad l saw some of Italy when it was still Italy.
Poor Malta and Sardinia must be getting hammered. Talked to a couple from Malta about a year ago and they said it was already bad then. I bet their tourist trade is now nil because of this invasion.
Sink a couple or even fire warning shots over the bow and that would take care of the problem.
It’s hard to have any sympathy for Italy seeing how they actively supported the overthrow of Gaddafi, who warned us what was coming.
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