“What we are inaugurating today is above all a dialogue between equals, based on mutual respect,” Meloni said, opening an international conference at the foreign ministry in Rome that seeks to address irregular migration and promote growth.

“Between Europe and the enlarged Mediterranean there cannot be a competitive or conflictual relationship, because in reality the interests are much more convergent than we ourselves recognise,” she added.

“Italy and Europe need immigration, but we cannot send the signal that those who enter illegally will be rewarded.

“If, on the one hand, we are open to letting people in but then do not address what will become of them in our countries, that is not solidarity,” said Meloni.

“Mass irregular migration harms everyone except criminal organisations, which use their strength to play with the lives of the most fragile people,” she continued, calling for “joint efforts and more cooperation to fight the network of traffickers”.

Meloni said in tackling migration the partnership with countries of origin “must be equal, predatory, multidimensional and long-term”.

“It must be based on respect and not on a paternalistic approach, on solidarity, on respect for each other’s sovereignty, on shared responsibility for upholding legality,” the prime minister said.

This, she insisted, “is the only serious way to strengthen our bond, trust each other and foster the development and prosperity of our peoples”.

Before the conference, Meloni met with Tunisian President Kais Saïed and other leaders, according to Palazzo Chigi sources.

“This is the beginning of a path,” the prime minister reportedly told Saïed.

“Tunisia and Italy have a common future,” Saïed is said to have replied.

Tajani and Von der Leyen warmly greeted each other at the conference. “We want to adopt a pragmatic approach based on shared interests and common values,” the European Commissioner said in reference to the work being done to promote resettlement and humanitarian admission of migrants. (Photo: ANSA)

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Sunday that Italy wants the broader Mediterranean area to be a “sea of peace and progress” rather than a cemetery for people seeking safety and a better life in Europe.

“Rome has always been, and wants to be, a crossroads between peoples who want to build a new season together,” he said at the opening of the conference.

Migration is not the only “big problem we are facing” the secretary of centre-right party Forza Italia said.

“We have to solve the migration issue at its root, we have to deal with the big question of climate change, the fight against terrorism, disease, because often the major traffickers of human beings are the same people that traffic in arms and drugs.

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, meanwhile, said during the conference that it is necessary to “crack down on traffickers” and “destroy their cynical business model”.

“Opening up new legal routes between our continents can create a real and safe alternative to dangerous journeys at sea,” she added.

“In the EU we are working to promote resettlement and humanitarian admission.

“We must join forces to dismantle the cruel and illegal business model of criminals and make people aware of the lies that traffickers spread,” she said.

The Commission president also said the recent EU agreement with Tunisia is “to be a model, a project for the future, for partnerships with other countries in the region”.

“We want to adopt a pragmatic approach based on shared interests and common values,” Von der Leyen said.

In other related news, nearly 700 migrants and refugees arrived on Lampedusa on Sunday after coast guard and finance police patrol boats intervened in support of 17 boats in distress.

 

As migrants and refugees continue to arrive on Lampedusa in huge numbers, on Sunday morning a riot broke out at the hotspot, reportedly involving around 100 people. (Photo: ANSA)

The boats each carried between 15 and 58 people, including women and children, from Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Syria, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Libya and Sudan.

Six boats were reportedly found adrift without an engine, having allegedly lost them during the sea crossing.

All the boats except for one, which departed from Zuwara in Libya, set sail from Sfax in Tunisia.

On Sunday morning there were 2433 people in the hotspot, after a total of 701 people arrived on the island in 17 landings on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, 1063 people were transferred off Lampedusa to mainland Sicily and other destinations in Italy by a combination of passenger ferry and military vessels.

On Sunday morning a riot with stone throwing broke out at the hotspot, reportedly involving around 100 people said to be from Sudan and South Sudan, including numerous minors.

The police and Red Cross staff who work at the hotspot intervened to restore calm.

Fifteen people subsequently required medical attention for mild injuries

ANSA