Before the uprising in the Arab world, EU nations were deliberating with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on how to curb illegal migration into EU states from Africa, allowing Moammar Gadhafi to make a proposal of €5b to curb the flow . Both the Italian navy in collaboration with his Libyan counterpart were doing a joint monitoring of the Mediterranean sea. The picture then was like a case of a loner or an enemy becoming the most sought-after friend.
But now there is war in Libya, and the situation is different, Libya is been accused of deliberately unleashing a wave of migrants against Europe in retaliation for the military strikes against the country. (http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=4576973&sponsor=). Libya appears to be making good on threats issued at the start of the coalition's bombing campaign, when Moussa Ibrahim, the government spokesman, said the regime would no longer stop sub-Saharan and other refugees from trying to enter Europe by boat. Nearly 400 boats loaded with illegal immigrants have reached Italy since January. Some do not make it. Italian authorities scoured the Mediterranean yesterday in the hope of finding survivors from a boat that sank in rough seas and high winds on Wednesday, having left the Libyan coast two days earlier. The tiny island of lampedusa has been stretched to the limit, Some 6,000 migrants - more than the total population of the island - are now living there in makeshift camps.
To ease the tension on facilities there and on Italy as a whole, the Italian government issues a temporary visa to immigrants to move freely within the Schengen bloc. France is not happy with the decision and halted all trains from Italy thereby causing a bitter diplomatic dispute. I can see the dicey situation the EU leaders find themselves, they do not want extra liabilities on their workload, liabilities like overpopulation, high rate of unemployment, high crime rate e. t. c. and also they need genuine and convincing reasons to repatriate the immigrants to their war torn Nation. The Italian PM is doing a great job in receiving the immigrants and providing a temporary accommodation for them across Italy mainland, other EU Leaders, including UK should emulate this humane act, remember this is not only Libya, Africa or Italian's problem, it is a world problem.
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