Italy: The Italian Solution

For two days, an inflatable dinghy packed full of young African men floats in the middle of the Mediterranean, its occupants unsure if they will live or die. Suddenly, the San Giusto — an Italian naval ship - looms into view, plucks the jubilant men from their sagging rubber boat and they join the 140,000 people rescued at sea by Italy, so far this year. When the San Giusto has collected its capacity of human cargo, they're taken to a southern Italian port, subjected to health tests and passed through a processing centre and, for some, on through the gates to town and onto to a new life in Europe. Italy's Operation Mare Nostrum is starkly different to Australia's Operation Sovereign Borders and it has also has its fair share of critics. In an Australian television first, Foreign Correspondent takes you aboard this high-risk, politically controversial exercise conducted, as you'd expect, with plenty of Italian passion and dedication.