(Reuters) Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Monday she was convening a ministerial panel for national security to improve her government’s response to a surge in migrant arrivals.
Italy has been struggling to accommodate arrivals from North Africa and the Balkans and the country’s Red Cross called on Monday for more international efforts against migration “chaos.”
Meloni said after a cabinet meeting she had activated the Inter-ministerial Committee for the Security of the Republic (CISR), which would remain in permanent operation in order to address the spike in arrivals.
“Our aim is to tackle the problem in a pragmatic way, with rapid and coordinated decisions,” Meloni, who has made the fight against illegal immigration a cornerstone of her political career, said in a statement.
