• Italy’s prime minister has outlined plans for people smugglers.
• Giorgia Meloni unveiled the proposals serving up to 30 years in prison.
• The proposals were made during a cabinet meeting near the site of a shipwreck.

Italy’s prime minister has outlined plans that could result in extended prison sentences for people smugglers responsible for deaths and serious injuries.

Giorgia Meloni unveiled the proposals, which could result in smugglers serving up to 30 years in prison.

Ministers also agreed on measures to improve legal pathways for foreign workers entering Italy.

The proposals were made during a cabinet meeting near the site of a shipwreck that killed 72 migrants last month.

Ms Meloni insisted at the meeting in the Calabrian town of Cutro that she was determined to defeat people smuggling.

“Our response to what happened is a policy of greater firmness on the ground,” she said, adding that Italy would take action against smugglers on the boats as well as those in third countries who organized the trips.

The government has denied responsibility for the disaster, but Ms Meloni has stated that more improved and legal routes must be established to allow migrants to safely enter the country.

“I believe that another way to fight people smugglers is to send out the message that it does not pay to enter Italy illegally,” she said.

Separately, she stated that countries that assist in educating their citizens about the dangers of travelling to Italy through criminal networks would be given preferential quotas for legal migrant workers.

Protesters threw stuffed animals at passing cars as ministers were driven to a cabinet meeting in Cutro on Thursday. Some held up signs reading “They could have been saved”.

Ms Meloni’s right-wing government has come under fire for the February disaster, with questions raised about whether more could have been done to prevent it.

The majority of those aboard the 200-person wooden vessel were said to be from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.

The ship is believed to have sunk after colliding with rocks in rough weather while attempting to land near Crotone.

According to officials, 72 bodies have been recovered and 79 people have survived, but approximately 30 people are still missing.

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