Wall Of A Different Sort

Quoted from Reuters: "Last February, while returning from a trip to Mexico, Pope Francis said then-candidate Trump's view about building walls was 'not Christian'." [1]

Italy is building a wall of a different sort.  One wonders if this wall of money is or is "not Christian."  Quoted in part below is from an article entitled Italy sets up €200 million fund to help African countries stop migrants leaving  published by The Local.it  on February 1, 2017 [2]:

Italy on Wednesday pledged €200 million ($215 million) in funds to several African countries as it seeks to slash the number of migrants risking their lives in the Mediterranean to reach Europe. 

Unlike previous European financing pledges, which have aimed to tackle the root causes of migration, the fund seeks to boost efforts by African security forces to stop people from leaving.

The so-called Africa Fund will help bolster the "fight against human trafficking and illegal migration", Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said.

The funds will go mainly to Niger, Libya and Tunisia - the three key transit and departure points for the vast majority of African migrants trying to reach Italy's shores.

They are intended to help train the nations' security forces and to pay for equipment to monitor the borders.

"We don't build walls in the Mediterranean - we can't and don't want to do that," Alfano said, in an allusion to US President Donald Trump's pledge to construct a wall on the Mexican border.

"We give money to these countries, and in return they must use it to reduce the number of illegal migrants arriving here," Alfano added.

Alfano might as well have said this instead of the above: "We give money to these countries, and in return they must use it to build a wall (or an invisible fence with monitoring equipment) on their side (not ours)  to reduce the number of illegal migrants arriving here."  That is brilliant, except that the money would probably end up in the pockets of corrupt officials and politicians, and still Italy will see migrants crossing the Mediterranean into Europe, hopefully in luxury yachts and in style.  After all, there was "a summit on migration in the Maltese capital Valletta in November 2015, [during which] EU leaders agreed with their African counterparts to set up a 1.8-billion-euro fund to help address the root causes of migration." [3]  However, "it remains unclear how much of those funds have actually been handed over, and what steps, if any, African nations have taken to limit migration flows." [4]


[1] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-vatican-idUSKBN15G4HR
[2] http://www.thelocal.it/20170201/italy-will-give-200-million-to-african-states-to-stop-migrant-flow
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.