AFP/Lampedusa, Italy

 

 

Le Pen speaks to the press outside a detention centre for immigrants during her visit to Lampedusa
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen told undocumented immigrants on the Italian island of Lampedusa that Europe could not welcome them during a visit yesterday that was met by protesters.

“I have a lot of compassion for you but Europe can’t welcome you. We don’t have the financial means,” Le Pen told two of the thousands of immigrants who have landed on the rocky island off the coast of Tunisia in recent weeks.

Campaigners turned out for a demonstration against her visit, holding placards reading: “Lampedusa Is Not Racist!” and “Solidarity with the Asylum-Seekers!”

“Racists go away!” chanted dozens of protesters from a local rights group.

Le Pen, leader of the National Front, met with Lampedusa mayor Bernardino De Rubeis and visited a small and heavily overcrowded immigrant centre.

Around 8,000 mainly Tunisian migrants have arrived on dozens of boats in Lampedusa since Tunisia’s revolt in January – more than the total for 2010.

“Tomorrow there could be hundreds of thousands,” she warned.

Le Pen, who recent polls have showed as a favourite in France’s presidential election next year, told AFP before her trip that she simply wanted to highlight the problem of illegal immigration in Europe.

“I want to draw Europe’s attention to what is happening. European officials are averting their gaze and trying to play down the risk of migration flows,” she said, adding: “I prefer the truth: Europe is becoming impoverished.”

Her visit to Lampedusa has proved controversial, with local opposition politicians condemning her presence and accusing her of being a racist and Interior Minister Roberto Maroni warning her not to “throw oil on the fire”.

“France should be worried ... there are no borders,” she said.

“I also want to offer my support to the inhabitants of Lampedusa who have had the feeling of being completely abandoned,” she added.

The European Union “has not provided any solution”.

“If I listened only to my heart, I would throw myself in the water to save them. But we would all drown because my boat is too fragile,” said the 42-year-old Le Pen, who is also a member of the European Parliament.

She was accompanied by Mario Borghezio, a fellow MEP from Italy’s anti-immigration Northern League party, part of the governing coalition.

Lampedusa, which is Italy’s southernmost point, has a population of just 6,000 people and is around 140km from Tunisian shores.

The 20sq km island has traditionally been as a major gateway for illegal immigration into the European Union.