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Berlusconi says that there is no scandal in rejecting illegal immigrants at sea and return them to Libya. Fassino agrees. Europe applauds. The League is happy. Calderoli is radiant, and if he is happy there is no doubt that in all this there is something deeply wrong. What is profoundly wrong is send back the migrants in a country that does not offer any guarantee on the human rights of its citizens, let alone foreigners.

Gaddafi's Libya, let us remember, was for years the West's public enemy number one, accused of financing international terrorism. Now in Europe everyone loves it as long as it does the dirty work for us. So keeping migrants away from our shores at any price. From Europe that has exploited Africa for centuries and is primarily responsible for immigration. If the West had seriously engaged in the development of African countries instead of systematically plunder them perhaps the phenomenon of immigration, would not be or would be different. 

But there cannot be an unjust world and pretend that people who live in disadvantaged areas do not try to come to seek employment and a future in the most wealthy countries. We Italians have done it for centuries, going to America. But the Americans, with all the difficulties of integration that the Italians had, have never rejected the ships. The League once said that it was necessary to shoot illegal immigrants. But they don't even have to do it, they can be delivered to the Libyans and then they look after it.
The Church also protested and protested the UN, because rejecting the ships at sea you cannot know if people on board are entitled to be granted asylum or not, if they are refugees or not. But the government washes its hands of it. In the waters of the Mediterranean and in the blood of those who, in spite of what the League says, was not coming in Italy to steal and kill, but only in search of hope. 

Francesco Defferrari