Migrants, Valenti: 'At the Lampedusa hotspot we change pace'

"The collection of waste, the beds made dignified with adequate beds and with disinfection that is done systematically, a canteen that today, after some time, works and a series of interventions aimed at welcoming migrants, with entertainment especially for minors and a minimum of mediation that is carried out in a dignified manner". It is with these words that the prefect Valerio Valenti, commissioner for the migrant emergency, took stock of the situation of the Lampedusa hotspot that has been managed by the Italian Red Cross since the first of June.
"All this has been done - explained Valenti, during the press conference held at the hotspot of contrada Imbriacola - because since January, when I arrived here for the first time, a series of concrete actions have followed: the dl Cutro transformed into law 50, the declaration of a state of emergency, the collaboration with the mayor of Lampedusa to whom a structure of the ministry has been made available that is now in Lampedusa on a permanent basis and that It acts as a link with the municipal administration to resolve the issues that are raised from time to time: these are all elements that contribute to giving an answer to that emergency, because it was an emergency, which we highlighted in January".
"The action of the department - the prefect then underlined - will now also want to achieve other objectives. The first, shared at European level, is to achieve a more rapid repatriation of subjects who are not entitled to remain on the territory, therefore the creation of detention centers.
And I do not exclude that one, the first, can also be done here, on the island. If on the one hand we must give a dignified welcome to those who are entitled to it, on the other we must ensure that the border procedures introduced by Decree Law 50 are implemented, with regard to those who have no right to stay".