During a parliamentary assembly in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, Italian president Sergio Mattarella on Thursday (July 7) called for the opening of "official channels (for migration)" in countries of origin; this, he said, would "also contribute to reducing illegal migration."

He added that "it is unhealthy to push back people on ships once they had accessed our countries."

Disorderly migration risked amid pandemic crisis

In his speech, Mattarella analysed the phenomenon also from the African point of view. He said that the crisis provoked by the pandemic, then by the war, and by climate change, risks provoking "disorderly and irregular emigration towards the West of much young energy that would be useful" to the development of the continent.

The conflict in Ukraine especially, the head of state warned, puts at risk "the future of millions of Africans," taking into account an increase in energy prices and a halt to food products exports.

To deal with this scenario, he said it is necessary that "more solid partnerships" are created between the European Union and Africa in the awareness that the two continents "share a future." The "tragedy" of the pandemic and the global crisis resulting from it made it clear that the wealthiest part of the world must do more.

'Africa's time is now'

Saluting Zambia as a country that is a "authentically African model of democracy, attentive to human rights and an example for the region," Mattarella reiterated that "Africa's time is now."

This continent, he said, "is the present on which to invest to foster a better future."

"Over 60% of the 1.4 billion Africans are under age 25 and by 2050," Mattarella said, adding that it is estimated that young Africans will account for over a quarter of the world's labor force. "We have a shared responsibility: the enormous potential, which can benefit all of humanity, must not be squandered."