Dear friends,

it is a great honour for the Italian Government, for me, to welcome you to Rome for this conference dedicated to development and migration. I would of course like to thank Minister Tajani and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and I also wish to greet the delegation of the Italian Government in attendance here today, including Vice-President of the Council of Ministers Matteo Salvini and the Minister of the Interior. Above all, however, I must thank each and every one of you for accepting the Italian Government’s invitation to participate in this initiative, which I hope may be the first of many others. 

The fact that the top representatives of more than 20 States are sitting around this table, many of whom Heads of State and Government, as well as the presence of several international organisations, not only shows the friendship that exists between our nations, but above all reflects the awareness that each of us has that, in order to effectively deal with the major challenges we are facing, it is crucial that we are able to work together. 
I believe this is the first time that the players around this table have met to discuss migration and development: Europe’s Mediterranean States that are the first port of call for migratory routes, the Maghreb States, several Sahel States, African and Middle Eastern States of origin and of transit for the flows, Gulf countries and, together with these, as I mentioned, the main international organisations and top representatives of the European Union and African Union.

This is a unique initiative, an initiative that, personally, I strongly believe in. The aim is not for this to be a ‘closed’ format; we actually consider it the beginning of a process, a process we like to call the ‘Rome Process’, which must increasingly strengthen dialogue between us at the same time as also being open to other contributions. I wish to be clear on one thing: what we are launching today is above all a dialogue between equals, based on mutual respect, because the relationship between Europe and the wider Mediterranean cannot be ‘competitive’ or even conflictual in nature. It must not be a relationship of conflicting interests that need to be mediated, because, in practice, our interests converge much more than we ourselves sometimes recognise. I therefore see above all great opportunities in that relationship, which are shared opportunities but that can only be fully explored by starting with relations that are based on fairness and frankness.

I’d therefore like to be the first to be frank. I know that many of you believe that, in the past, Europe did not always consider the problems faced by the rest of the world to be its own problems and that, more in general, the West has at times given the impression of paying more attention to imparting lessons rather than helping out. It was probably also this mistrust that then sometimes made it difficult to make progress on solutions for strategic issues, and this was certainly the case for the migration issue. We have often approached the migration issue, and more specifically non-governed migration, illegal immigration, as a matter that pitted countries of origin and of transit on the one side against countries of first arrival on the other. This, however, is not the case, because mass illegal immigration is harmful for everyone, it is harmful for all of us. The only ones to benefit from it are the criminal organisations that make money at the expense of the weakest and the most vulnerable, and then also use their power against States, influencing their institutions and putting their citizens’ safety as well as their economies, political stability and democratic balance at risk. Even more than States, all this concerns people, because people are the ones at the core of migration flows: lives, hopes, fears, suffering. They are used and exploited by criminal organisations that solely pursue a logic of profit. We all remember all too well the deaths of those who did not manage to survive their journeys of hope, and the desperation of survivors who have lost their loved ones. It is therefore our duty to take care of our countries, of course, but it is also our duty to take care of the destiny of these people. This is why I think we must embark on a path of dialogue together which, however, must lead us to achieve concrete objectives. As I open this conference, I therefore want to try and suggest some specific topics for discussion, while of course paying attention to any you may wish to suggest and add during the discussion.

First, fighting illegal immigration; second, governing legal migration flows; third, support for refugees and displaced persons; and, above all, the most important (because otherwise everything we do will be insufficient), wide-ranging cooperation to support development in Africa and, more in general, in the countries of origin of the migration routes, addressing the root causes of mass migration. 

With regard to fighting illegal migration, I believe our priority should be to strengthen operational cooperation among our police forces and different states’ judicial authorities; the commitment to go after traffickers of human beings and to update legislation in the areas it is lacking, ensuring that nations’ work is not rendered futile by trafficking networks that have become extremely extensive. Italy, for example, already shares its judicial officers’ and police officers’ experience and professionalism with those countries wishing to make use of it, for training activities and for suggestions regarding necessary regulations. We have done this in the past with countries of origin and of transit and we are of course all the more willing to do so today. Alongside this, I believe we must reflect about how we can together deal with the main ‘weapons’ used for this trafficking: the boats of the trafficking networks, which are increasingly unsuitable for the crossings for which traffickers charge thousands of dollars, disregarding the fact that, in many cases, the boats will capsize and cause the death of those on board because, by then, those on board will already have paid. I also believe that cooperation is key to strike the heart of these mafias: the financial networks. In this regard, I believe and propose that it would be useful to have coordination between our intelligence services because we always talk about smugglers, but the smugglers are the last link in an increasingly long chain of command in these organisations. It is also important to cooperate to improve the centres present in countries of origin and of transit, to better manage repatriation mechanisms, especially with regard to voluntary mechanisms.

The second point: fighting illegal immigration and combatting trafficking networks above all allows us to offer new opportunities for legal migration. We must ask ourselves how we can reap the benefits of migration and this is only possible if its management is based on cooperation between us. Italy and Europe need immigration, which is why we cannot continue sending out the message that those who enter illegally will be rewarded to the detriment of those who would like to enter legally, just as we cannot send out the message that, on the one hand, we are open to allowing a lot of people to enter but, on the other, we will not take care of the destiny those people once they then find themselves in our nations, because that is not solidarity. The Government I head has already given a strong signal from this point of view: we have planned a decree governing migration flows that, for the first time, covers a three-year period, increasing quotas for legal entries compared with the past and providing for privileged quotas for States that cooperate on stopping illegal departure networks as well as additional entries outside of the quota system for workers who follow training courses before departing. This is also the model we are trying to promote in Europe and in relation to which your cooperation is obviously also crucial.

The third point is support for displaced persons and refugees and this is a duty everyone must fulfil, fully respecting international law. Those fleeing war, terrorism, famine and natural disasters have the right to get to safety, even if this entails crossing their own borders. However, also in this regard we must be, let’s say, clear, because this right cannot automatically mean that there is the possibility to be welcomed anywhere in the world. The greatest burden inevitably tends to fall on bordering nations: what happens in Türkiye, for example, which ranks first in the world for the number of refugees it has taken in, is also what is happening today in Poland, for example, regarding the help being provided to refugees from the conflict in Ukraine. The first commitment here must therefore be to boost economic and other support for those States that find themselves dealing with large flows of refugees, which is certainly a duty of solidarity but is also the best way to avoid further situations of instability. Then, alongside this, there is the strengthening of legal and safe humanitarian corridors, also to States that are further away, such as Europe. Also in this regard, Italy is at the forefront in the European context.

I have left the fourth matter for last, although, as I said at the beginning, this is the most important point, without which, like I said, all our other efforts will inevitably be in vain. The fourth point is wide-ranging cooperation to support development in Africa and, in general, in migrants’ countries of origin, dealing with the root causes of mass migration. At a time when a lot of attention is paid to the right to migrate, we are not paying sufficient attention to people’s right not to have to emigrate, not to have to flee their homes, not to have to leave their lands, not to have to leave their relatives in search of a better life. Italy is now a land of immigration, but several years ago we were a land of emigration and we know all about the difficult stories of those who leave their land and their loved ones in search of better conditions. We also know all too well that emigration entails a great economic, as well as a human, cost, for the nation experiencing it, because very often that nation is deprived of its best talents, it is deprived of its young people, perhaps after having borne the cost of their growth, of their education and training. 
This is why, with a view to mutually beneficial partnership, I believe that this conference’s first objective must be to launch development initiatives and projects for the wider Mediterranean region, for Sub-Saharan Africa, by jointly planning and implementing initiatives and projects which, from my point of view, should mainly focus on structural measures, and therefore on six main sectors that I would personally define as the following (although also in this regard I am of course awaiting your contributions): agriculture; energy; infrastructure; education and training; health; water and hygiene. This is why the aim of our work must also be to find the necessary resources to implement these development initiatives, not only by involving States and international organisations, but also by supporting private and entrepreneurial initiatives. I would therefore also like us to set ourselves the medium-term objective of a development fund that, however, provides for a crucial new feature: its management, how it is to be used, should be decided upon with the fundamental contribution of the countries that will use the relative resources. With regard to development cooperation alone, Italy has already committed just under EUR 1 billion in Africa. In addition to these resources, EUR 3 billion will go towards climate measures over the coming years and there are many initiatives by our large and medium-sized enterprises. This is our part in a much wider spectrum of resources that can be activated and we are of course ready to do even more with a view to strategic partnership. This partnership, however, and this is also something I want to be frank about, must be on an equal footing, non-predatory, multidimensional and long-term; it must be based on respect and not on a paternalistic approach of some being above others; it must be based on solidarity, on respect for each nation’s sovereignty, on shared responsibility and on the protection of legality, because this is the only serious way of strengthening our relationship, of trusting each other more and more and of supporting the development and prosperity of our peoples. I shall conclude by saying that these are the reasons behind this conference and I am certain that the discussions we are about to begin in this session and the next, which will also involve international organisations and financial institutions, will steer us towards ambitious and shared goals. 
I would therefore like to sincerely thank you once again for being here and thank you for the contributions you will bring to these discussions. I officially declare our conference open. 
Thank you.

[Courtesy translation]