G7 ministers adopt plan to clamp down on trafficking of migrants

ROME: The Group of Seven (G7) rich democracies will set up specialised police units to investigate trafficking of migrants, Italy's interior minister said on Friday (Oct 4), as part of efforts to tackle irregular migration.

Matteo Piantedosi announced the initiative at the end of a three-day meeting of G7 interior ministers that also focused on threats arising from the crises in the Middle East and Ukraine.

"The action plan provides for the strengthening of the investigative and operational capacities of the police forces, including through the initiation of joint actions," he told reporters after the talks in Mirabella Eclano in southern Italy.

"We reiterated with one voice that the dismantling of the trafficking cartels is a priority," he added.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government, which holds the G7 rotating presidency for 2024, has sought cooperation with the European Union and African governments to crack down on human traffickers.

The new action plan stresses the need for closer cooperation among the G7 nations and with countries of origin and transit of the irregular migration flows.

G7 members should create "law enforcement units specialised in crimes and investigations in the field of migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons" if they don't already exist, they said in a joint statement.

Meloni last year signed a deal with Albania to build reception camps there, looking to deter migrants from embarking on the perilous sea journey to Italy.

Piantedosi said the camps would become operational in the next weeks, adding that the Italian initiative in Albania was among topics discussed at the G7 ministers' gathering.

"It is a solution that everyone is looking at with great interest," he said.

The G7 comprises the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada.