Late last month, 59 refugees and migrants died when the boat they were traveling in smashed against the rocks of the Calabrian coast of Italy. Each time, publics in Europe and North Africa have reacted with shock, until the news cycle moved on. This flow of people across the sea has been further fueled by the immense social turmoil experienced by societies on both sides of the Mediterranean in the past decade. As part of the EU’s collective border system, Rome has also shaped wider EU initiatives to patrol the union’s Mediterranean frontiers. Now, having promised to “stop the boats,” Meloni faces the same strategic dilemmas that every Italian prime minister before her has struggled with in trying to match tough rhetoric on border security with sustainable policy outcomes.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 16, 2023 00:46 UTC