Vince, it
seems, is Vince. But Britain is not alone in struggling to arrest immigration. A mass of displaced North Africans is descending on Malta and Italy. The United Nations estimate that more than
20,000 people have already landed this year and many more expected.
Neither Malta nor Italy can cope alone. On Monday, Malta called for the EU to invoke a 2001 directive that grants migrants temporary protection in cases of ‘mass influx’. Italy also petitioned Brussels to spread the physical burden. The EU did not acquiesce in either case, which especially outraged the Italian government: both Berlusconi and immigration minister Maroni said that the European Union stands and falls together, and they threatened to withdraw.
Berlusconi’s government may be mired, but its response is striking nonetheless. In addition to the stern rhetoric, the Italians have issued arrivals with tourist visas in the hope that the immigrants will travel north.
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