Richard Gere permitted himself to be recorded assisting illegal migrants cross the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa in an attempt to persuade others to follow in his footsteps. Gere posed with refugees and gave them lunches after boarding the NGO ship Open Arms.
When a video emerged showing Gere exploiting Italy’s immigration system, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini quickly condemned him. Salvini questioned Gere’s decision to transport 160 migrants on his “private jet” to his luxurious residences and several guest houses rather than assist them in unlawfully entering someone else’s territory and forcing them to pay the cost. He then chastised the affluent celebrity for spending government money to care for refugees before returning to the luxury of his life.
Salvini has barred any boats transporting rescued migrants into Italian waters in an attempt to save Italy’s economy and culture. Rather, he has directed that the migrants, virtually all of whom are from non-refugee North African countries, be returned to the Libyan ports from where they arrived. Open Arms is one of the progressive activist groups that often assists in the smuggling of these refugees into Italy.
Despite Italy’s sovereignty, Gere proposed that Italian taxpayers pay extra money to let migrants reach their ports. Despite the fact that Malta finally consented to accept 39 of the refugees photographed with Gere, no other European nation has provided shelter. Furthermore, Spain, where the Open Arms boat is registered, declined to admit even one migrant.
Salvini has become Italy’s most popular politician as a result of his harsh approach. The people of Italy are overwhelmed by mass migration, which has only encouraged millions more refugees seeking asylum to arrive on Italian soil. Migrants often wreck their own dinghies, knowing they will be rescued and awarded asylum, in order to compel ships to carry them onboard and to Italy. This technique has resulted in mass drowning and, as a result, public outrage.
Along with Salvini’s attitude, the Italian interior minister has pledged to seize the Open Arms ship, which has contributed to the burden of mass migration and deliberately encourages people to risk their lives across the Mediterranean. Salvini, on the other hand, accused campaigners like Gere of emboldening human traffickers and criminal migrants.
While these charity ships regard themselves as the saviors of a hapless populace, they are just accomplices assisting crooks in breaking into houses. They just dump migrants on other taxpayers while patting themselves on the shoulder for their work.
It’s simple to be generous with other people’s money. Gere paid nothing for the political stunt. In reality, he benefited the most from exploiting the refugees. He improved his public image, got his name back in the news, and returned home for less than the cost of gasoline for his private plane. You can’t buy that type of publicity, but you can presumably compel taxpayers to subsidize it.
