Cartabia: 'Italy is at the forefront of migrants, a joint effort is needed'

"Italy is at the forefront of migratory flows and remains fully committed to preventing and fighting this crime, particularly in the Mediterranean", as well as "protecting the human rights of migrants who are victims of trafficking, starting with the right to life ".

    But "the dimension of migratory flows requires a joint effort.

The international community must intensify its efforts ". This was said by the Minister of Justice Marta Cartabia, in Vienna at the 30th session of the UN Commission for the prevention of crime. Cartabia recalled that in 2020 Italy saved over 25,000 migrants" Ruthless criminal organizations exploit migrants' natural aspiration for a better life and put them seriously at risk. Tragedies continue to occur despite our efforts ", noted the minister for whom" there is a lot to do, starting with prevention ".

"This is the reason - he explained - why we enhance and support UNODC awareness campaigns and programs to address the root causes and driving forces of smuggling. The Palermo Convention and its" Protocol against migrant smuggling "represent the main legal instruments at a global level to address this phenomenon, and we are confident that the recently launched revision mechanism, strongly supported by Italy, will help make them more effective ". Cartabia has defined international cooperation between law enforcement and judicial authorities between countries of origin, transit and destination as "essential". It is no coincidence that Italy promotes, in collaboration with the UNODC, "innovative projects aimed at strengthening collaboration with African countries in the fight against the smuggling of migrants and other related crimes, in particular the trafficking of persons, also through capacity building and training activities ". But more must also be done:" we must also strengthen our judicial cooperation. The assignment in Italy of a liaison magistrate from Nigeria - whom we thank for the extensive cooperation - has been particularly fruitful and has been replicated elsewhere. The deployment of additional liaison magistrates from African countries to Italy has been planned and an agreement will soon be concluded with Niger, also thanks to the support provided by the UNODC. Further initiatives are underway to strengthen judicial cooperation between theItaly and the other African countries, in particular with Mali and Senegal ".

With these objectives in mind, "Italy presented, together with the United States, a draft resolution at this session of the Commission, and we count - said Cartabia - on the support of all delegations to obtain a good result on this. important issue ".

  - Between January and April 2021, migrants arriving on the central Mediterranean route more than doubled (+ 157%) compared to the same period in 2020, reaching 11,600, which is the most significant increase compared to all other routes. These are Frontex data. Arrivals in April, 1,550, recorded double compared to the same month of 2020. Those arriving were mainly Tunisians and Ivorians. In total, 36,100 arrivals were recorded in the EU in the first four months of 2021, an increase of about a third compared to 2020, when pandemic restrictions had dropped. In April, arrivals were over 7,800, a number four times higher than the all-time low of April 2020.