Antonio Tajani, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, announced on Friday that Italy will hold a conference for African leaders on 23 July to address human trafficking.
Tajani highlighted that African leaders will gather to touch upon strategic ways to combat human trafficking with strong and strict measures.
Earlier this month, the official stated that the Italian government will organize a “big conference” between African and European countries on the immigration file.
The conference aims to address the causes of irregular migration during a meeting between Prime Minister George Meloni and Tunisian President Kais Saied.
During a TV interview, Tajani noted that Italy cannot handle all the migrants who want to reach Europe. However, it is ready to “receive regular migrants who come to work.”
“We are ready to increase the number to more than 120,000 annually over the next three years,” he added.
As for irregular migration, he affirmed: “We must defend our borders, but we cannot do it alone.”