The sea in front of the Steccato di Cutro beach in the Crotone region returned the 86th victim a few hours ago. The death toll from the shipwreck on February 26 is still tentative, as many other bodies – perhaps twenty – still need to be rescued: 35 minors lost their lives in the tragedy, about 80 survivors, 26 of whom were from the 0-12 age group.

As if the torment of these countless tragedies was not enough, the fierce debate about the relief efforts launched after the “mayday” initiated by the wooden boat Yaz Aşkı, filled with immigrants, set off from Turkey before the disaster. Off the coast of Calabria – to add a good dose of torture, the government memo came Thursday (16 March) after a secret meeting between prime minister Giorgia Meloni, foreign minister Antonio Tajani, and Alfredo, undersecretary of the Council Presidency. Mantovano and some relatives of the survivors and survivors.

No one is naive enough to imagine that a note from Palazzo Chigi does not refer to itself and of course does not congratulate itself. However, here the notes seem distinctly out of tune, let alone disturbing. Meloni explains that the government, in a statement, “represents those who represent the personal affinity of him and the entire government, and ensures maximum determination to meet their demands, including requests for acceptance and reunification in other European countries”. Ok then. Palazzo Chigi also informed relatives of the victims and survivors that the prime minister assured them that the search for bodies would continue, including those imprisoned in the boat, possibly still stranded at the seabed. And that’s fine: any sign of affection, empathy, and concern for these poor families will be minimal.

But then we come to the absurd. Meloni and we always quote the government’s memo verbatim, asking survivors and relatives of the Cutro tragedy “how aware they are of the risks of crossing the Mediterranean.” In a word, a shocking, insensitive, meaningless observation. “Do you know the risks of transitions?” Presumably – according to the government’s keen observation – these immigrants were tricked by who or what at the gate before boarding a plane for a nice vacation and so no, they certainly didn’t realize the risks.

The climax of this subtle reasoning, however, comes in the passage in another part of the note, in which relatives of survivors and victims will turn to President Meloni “to appeal to his mother’s heart.”

Flashbacks, heart to heart. “Personally, I entrust Italy, my life, and yours, to the immaculate heart of Mary, which I am sure will lead us to victory,” said Matteo Salvini, the then Minister of the Interior, during the demonstration organized by the League in Milan in May 2019. Close the election campaign in light of the European elections. If immigrants today appeal to the heart of Giorgia’s mother and not to Madonna or her gods, we’ve come a long way. Shouting that she is a woman, that she is Italian, that she is a mother and that she is a Christian. Unwittingly ordered to teach life lessons to those who have almost nothing, he faces a desperate journey not to lose everything. “Do you know the risks of transitions?”