(AFP) Out in the Mediterranean, under a baking sun, fisherman Ezio Billeci comes across a boat of vulnerable migrants and calls for help, but for hours the only response he gets from Italian authorities is to “stand by.”
The episode off the island of Lampedusa symbolises what critics say is the government’s lax response to managing migration in a period exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic — accusations led by the anti-immigrant far-right.
Most of the recent arrivals hail from Tunisia, a country battling high unemployment and political instability. But Italy has its own financial woes — figures released Friday showed it plunged deep into recession — prompting resentment towards so-called economic migrants.
