During his first prime ministerial visit to Rome on Monday, Sir Keir Starmer repeatedly stressed the “upstream” work undertaken by his host, Giorgia Meloni, which had reduced levels of irregular migration across the Mediterranean. “I want to understand how that came about,” said the prime minister, who visited a border intelligence centre in the capital before having lunch with his radical-right Italian counterpart.
Sir Keir’s technocratic tone was deliberate. On migration, as on other matters, he likes to present himself as a sleeves rolled up, practical politician who is concerned only with what works. At a joint press conference during which the war in Ukraine was also discussed, he described this approach as one of “British pragmatism”. But a Labour government committed to a humane migration policy needs a proper moral compass to guide its thinking. It will not find evidence of that in Ms Meloni’s Rome.
As the anti-immigrant radical right has gained a stranglehold over Italy’s politics in recent years, 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. Just prior to Sir Keir’s trip, prosecutors requested a six-year jail sentence for Matteo Salvini – now a senior member of Ms Meloni’s government – who is on trial for refusing to allow an NGO boat containing 147 migrants to dock in Lampedusa in 2019.
Among other horrors, that prolonged standoff led to an outbreak of scabies and some migrants threw themselves into the sea in desperation. At the weekend, Ms Meloni was swift to tweet her support for her ally’s actions in “defending” Italy’s borders.
Since taking office two years ago, she has pursued the same agenda as Mr Salvini, but with greater efficiency. Labour talk of a focus on “upstream” issues is, to put it politely, euphemistic. After an original pledge to mount a naval blockade of north Africa proved impractical, Ms Meloni has pioneered outsourcing deals with the ruthless authoritarian president of Tunisia, Kais Saied. In exchange for economic aid, Mr Saied’s regime has done Italy’s dirty work for it. His security forces have allegedly engaged in illegal collective deportations and abuse of refugees seeking to reach European waters.
Rome – and the rest of Europe – have meanwhile continued to turn a blind eye to the activities of corrupt, brutal militias in Libya, also charged with controlling migration flows. Tunisian border guards have reportedly been rounding up migrants and passing them on to Libyan counterparts in notorious detention centres such as Bani Walid, where they are subject to extortion and torture.
Italian plans to process asylum seeker applications in Albania – another third-party solution in which Sir Keir expressed an explicit interest – are yet to come to fruition. But Ms Meloni’s record and what she is prepared to countenance suggests a wary caution in Downing Street might be advisable. 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.
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
