Since becoming Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni’s key challenge has been to curb illegal migration. However, delivering on the main promise of her political programme was particularly difficult given the sharp increase in the number of arrivals from North Africa since the beginning of her mandate. As she launched the Brothers of Italy electoral campaign, she took credit for changing Europe’s approach to migration. Official data for the first three months of 2024 shows the number of arrivals has decreased by more than half compared to the same period last year. Italy’s government strongly…