“Meloni lies, they are ambulances”. Saviano is with the sea taxis

“Prime Minister Meloni lies“. Roberto Saviano attack again. He points the finger, insinuates, accuses. The anti-mafia writer inaugurated the new year with an outstretched speech against the prime minister and in defense of NGO, following the signing – by the Quirinale – of the government decree which provides for more stringent rules for humanitarian associations at sea. Despite the green light from the Head of State, the essayist from Campania lashed out at the executive and did so in a series of considerations entrusted to social media

#Melons mind. He calls the NGOs “ferries that go back and forth with the smugglers”: in 10 years of investigations nothing like this has NEVER emerged. Laws against #ngo they remove observers from the Mediterranean to allow illegal pushbacks and a free hand for the Libyan Coast Guard. pic.twitter.com/VYMQxNuHRf

— Roberto Saviano (@robertosaviano) January 4, 2023

Saviano attacks: “Meloni lies. NGOs are ambulances”

Saviano, in particular, argued that “Melons lie“, then added a series of considerations in support of that accusation. “Call the NGOs, that is ambulances who rescue lives at sea, ‘ferries who go back and forth with the smugglers’. Shameful“, complained the writer, who in the past had already attacked the policies of the center-right on TV, speaking of “systematic lies about NGOs, refugees and immigration“. Now the rules written on the matter by the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi have further stiffened the remonstrances of the essayist, convinced in reiterating that the ships of non-governmental organizations are “ambulances“.

Saviano’s theses and the Frontex report

“In ten years of investigations it has never been proven no report between smugglers and rescue ships. The NGO ships always act after having warned the Italian authorities and exist precisely to help“, added Saviano on social media, rattling off another argument in favor of humanitarian associations. But, last November, Adnkronos had cited a confidential document by Frontex (the European Border Surveillance Agency) in which – with reference to the period between 1 January and 18 May 2021 – it read: ”The presence of NGO ships, especially sailing between Zuara and Zawiya, continues to be a further factor of attraction”, a “pull factor“, for migrants departing from Libya.

The accusation against the “Italian far-right” government

Again according to what Frontex noted in the document, ”the migrants arriving from Libya they declare constantly” to have verified, before departure, the presence of NGOs in the area, explaining that “in the absence of NGO ships in the Mediterranean, many refuse to leave“. The news beaten by Adnkronos must perhaps have escaped Saviano. In the light of recent political developments, with the tightening foreseen by the executive, the writer finally added: “The laws against NGO ships of the Government of extreme right Italian, in fact, sabotage rescue at sea and have the sole objective of removing observers from the Mediterranean to allow illegal pushbacks and a free hand for the Libyan Coast Guard“.

In a recent interview with ilGiornale.ithowever, the lawyer and deputy Fdi Sara Kelany he explained how the NGOs are by no means the only eyes in the Mediterranean. “The Italian Sar (Search and Rescue) area extends far beyond our territorial waters and the Coast Guard, the Guardia di Finanza, the Navy and the operations centers of these forces operate in this area and are always aware of what happens, both in territorial waters and in external ones. In fact, very often they carry out rescues“, specified the parliamentarian and expert on migration issues.