Silvio Berlusconi aligns with positions of his right-wing allies on the subject of immigration, only to then correct himself a few hours ago by saying that the tones of the League "are excessive. "It's a very urgent matter," said the former prime minister in an interview with Tg5. After years of government "of the left", he added, there are 600 migrants who "have no right to stay" in Italy and who represent "a social bomb ready to explode", because they are people "ready to commit crimes". .
Berlusconi then proposed a comparison: "With us in government in 2011, 4.400 immigrants arrived, while with the four governments of the left, 170 immigrants arrived in 2013, 150 in 2014, 181 in 2016 and 119 in 2017. The result is that today we have at least 630 thousand immigrants, of which only 30 thousand have the right to stay because they are refugees. Another 600 are a social bomb ready to explode, because they are ready to commit crimes".
Actually, as he recalled Guido Bolaffi on FIRSTonline, the most massive amnesty of all was the one made not by a centre-left government, but by one of the centre-right in 2002.
Not to mention that, referring only to refugees, the former Knight ignores the so-called "beneficiaries of humanitarian protection". These are people who according to the rules of international law are not entitled to refugee status, since in their countries of origin they are not victims of individual persecution, but still need protection, because if they were repatriated they would be in danger due to conflict, violence or human rights violations. In Italy, most immigrants receive a residence permit for humanitarian reasons rather than refugee status. They are not illegal immigrants: they have the right to remain in our country.
Berlusconi then indicated his recipe in three points: to press Europe to make agreements with the countries of North Africa to stop departures, to make agreements with the countries of origin to take back irregular immigrants and a "grand Marshall plan" for African countries also involving the USA, Russia, Chad and the Gulf countries.
