As life in Tunisia and Egypt gradually gets back to normal, political turmoil has, however, spread to Libya, the country long ruled by Muammar al-Gaddafi, with hundreds of Libyans taking part in anti-government protests clashing with security forces early yesterday morning in Benghazi, the country’s second-largest city.
Italy yesterday declared a humanitarian state of emergency and appealed to the EU for aid after over 5,000 illegal immigrants arrived in the space of five days on the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Maltese MEP David Casa was one of the speakers during Tuesday night’s heated debate held with the European Commissioner on Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmstrom, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the urgent situation in Italy. In a passionate speech, Mr Casa said: “The events of the last few days are a Mediterranean tragedy. The EU has not been listening to our calls – the solidarity of which you speak has simply failed to materialise.
“If Lampedusa overflows with migrants and transfers some of them to Sicily or Italy – God forbid these people came to Malta – we cannot extend Malta nor can we turn it into some massive prison.
For more: INDEPENDENT online
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