The president of Sicily has issued a decree ordering the mass expulsion of migrants from the island because of novel coronavirus contagion risks.
“Sicily cannot be invaded, while Europe is turning a blind eye and the government is not enacting any pushbacks,” President Nello Musumeci wrote on Sunday on Facebook, publishing his decree.
However, it was unclear how the drastic initiative could be implemented. Sources at the Interior Ministry in Rome, quoted by Corriere della Sera newspaper, dismissed it.
“The management of migration flows is not a regional competence, but is ruled by national laws, so it is hard to understand how Musumeci’s decree could work,” the sources said.
The measure says all Sicilian migrant reception centres should cleared by midnight on Monday, with residents transferred elsewhere within Italy or Europe. It also bans all new migrant arrivals by sea.
The decree is valid until September 10 and suggests that incoming sea arrivals should be hosted…
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
