Eighty percent of migrants hired in Italy this year did so with "ghost searches". While Internal Affairs Minister Matteo Salvini was announcing "the closing of the gates" and facing the fierce pressure on the only NGOs, on the beaches and in the most remote areas, over 4,300 foreigners are arriving in complete tranquillity, both migrants and human traffickers. To which it is necessary to add the people who have not been rescued, around 2,000 according to the estimates of analysts reported today by "Il Corriere della sera".
The overall number is still very low, since on September 2, 2019, the migrants identified were just over 5,000. But the problem remains that of the divisions, because it is clear that while the decree was signed at Viminale to prevent the entry of ships carrying about ten people, a few kilometers away they were attracting gyms and boats with a much larger number.
The last eight months have seen 208 arrivals, as the official Viminale data shows. At the end of the year, 5,253 foreigners have been taken in by sea. There are 947 of them transported by Ong ships with 26 boats. But most of them have obviously chosen alternative methods: there are, in fact, 208 "ghost searchers" who have allowed 4,306 migrants to reach land. In 110 cases - and for 1,979 people - the "rintraccio" took place after the approval.
An analogous situation, but with slightly higher numbers (for an effective refund, it will be necessary to wait until the end of the year), occurred in 2018. On 31 December, a total of 341 searches were carried out and 5,999 people arrived. Of these, 2,331 were only taken from the barracks and another 3,668 were taken ashore.