gay pride has come a long way from this in the ‘705 to pride in 2016. as this weekend's march approaches, we ask a veteran of the lgbt movement what it took to get from there to here. hello, europe, again, predictably, finds itself enmeshed in arguments over a migrant crisis. it is true that last year, it did manage a deal with turkey, that closed the eastern route from syria to greece and beyond. but that still leaves tens of thousands of people this year, taking the route up from libya into italy. those numbers cause friction in italy itself, and border tensions too. today austria announced that it's ready to deploy troops to stop migrants entering. and there's a new focus

to the argument now: the role of ngos rescuing migrants from the mediterranean. they face accusations they're encouraging people smuggling. for desperate people it can be tempting to cross because the bulk survive. about 97%. we have an extended report, now from yalda hakim whose been in sicily, which is on the frontline of this crisis. a flimsy inflatable dinghy full of migrants is adrift in the open sea, around 30 miles from the libyan coast. they have no fuel, no water, and no food. they've been detected by a spanish ngo. most of these migrants have never seen the ocean. they cannot swim. after hours at sea in the sweltering heat, they are exhausted. this boat has just arrived with about 500 migrants who been

rescued trying to make the very dangerous journey from libya to sicily. so far this year, over 80,000 people from different countries have arrived. around 2000 have drowned. the vast majority are not refugees fleeing war. but those in search of a better life. most will stay in italy. sympathy for the migrants is wearing thin. tensions here are rising. what is the solution to italy's migrant crisis? this town is one of those providing a haven for recent arrivals who endured much to reach here. these young men of 16 and 17 are from the country which makes up the second—largest number of migrants to come

to italy this year. bangladesh. the boys told me they never intended to come to europe, that they had asked people smugglers to take them to libya. but when they got there they became victims. bought and sold from one trafficker to another, the boys managed to finally get onto the boat for italy. not everyone is welcoming to migrants coming to europe.

this is a promo video from a group calling themselves the identitarian movement. with headquarters in austria and france, they are a small but growing group and their aim is to campaign against immigration. this summer, the movement tried to stop an nsf rescue ship from leaving port in sicily. -- msf. the stunt ultimately failed but in just a few weeks the organisation raised over 70,000 euros and they've now chartered a ship they say they will use to disrupt trafficking and monitor the ngos in the mediterranean.

their italy coordinator, lorenzo fiato, has flown down especially from milan. we want to defend europe from mass immigration and multiculturalism. we think in every city where multiculturalism is present, there is also radical islam and also violence regarding illegal immigrant and more. so you want european culture, western societies, to just be white? it's notjust a matter of white, it is of multiculturalism. this is a different kind of migration. these are thousands of illegal migrants coming to our shores, flooding into our cities. lorenzo's first goal is to combat those he sees as facilitating mass immigration. the ngos. you say you don't want the ngos operating in those waters, you want them to stop. they say if they do stop more lives will be lost.

no, i think this is false, because these people are coming to europe, they know someone will save them. you can't solve this problem by helping the human traffickers doing theirjobs, because they want to transport illegal migrants, so you arejust helping them. the next day, lorenzo is meeting some new identitarian recruits. viviana and claudia are university students from the sicilian capital, palermo. all these restaurants, are owned by migrants, people... yes, most of them, especially these, they are easy to do and the food is not so healthy. they grow up like rabbits. they grow up like rabbits? what do you mean? it's like saying there are a lot of them and they continue to appear.

they are literally replacing the people living in this neighbourhood. we are always less and they are always more. i wanted to find out why they had joined the movement. for claudia, it was more personal. so what do sicilians think of lorenzo and his friends, their

movement and views? lorenzo sees the chance for a bit of pr and tells the man about blocking the ngo ship. there's been another rescue, this time by save the children. an inflatable carrying 125 people has been located off libya. it is beginning to deflate, it is taking on water. 25 children are on board. four babies, several pregnant women. there are fatalities. four people die. one is the mother of a is—month—old baby. the ship comes into the port

of sicily, where a local prosecutor is investigating whether some ngo ships are facilitating illegal immigration. the n60 missions are coordinated by the italian coastguard but the country's legal system has launched two investigations into whether they are saving lives or assisting illegal immigrant on theirjourney. do you feel that by rescuing these boats, the ngos are encouraging th people—smuggling trade?

there are critics who have accused ngos of acting as a taxi service to europe. the ngos argue that if they were not operating in the area, more lives would be lost. back on the quay, the save the children ship is preparing to continue its mission. since last september, the vos hestia has rescued more than 4000 migrants at sea, including over 500 children. i asked the captain what he thought

of claims ngos were acting as a taxi service to migrants and people smugglers. ahsnljltelthnjhp rnntrary . you only have to see the craft that they put them in to see how utterly ruthless and cynical they are. they are pushing these people out, come what may, and if we are not there, they will drown. the gelatien =:= ' ~ ' ' it's not within the remit of a humanitarian organisation to solve this, ultimately, but in the meantime this tragedy will go on unfolding and we will continue to pick up the pieces and get the blame for something only other people can solve. i'm sorry. that is how it is. it is estimated that this year,

a quarter of a million migrants will make the perilous journey from libya to italy. several thousand will drown on the way. while this crisis continues, so, too, will criticism hfi eflé'fiflaht yalda hakim. and you can see a longer version of that — our world: sicily 0verwhelmed on the bbc news channel this sunday at 9:30pm, and also on iplayer. immigration, of course, is an issue that has led to a rise in support for nationalist parties right across the european union. one of them is the german

alternative fur deutschland. their deputy leader is beatrix von storch. she is also an mep on the european pa rliament‘s justice and home affairs committee. i spoke to her in strasbourg just before we came on air. i asked if she would also want to stop charities sending out ships to pick up migrants. the ngos are doing what the illegal migrant companies are doing. they are helping them out, they are shipping them over and so they are responsible for even more to come in. i think this has to be addressed clearly. we have to stop them from doing this. n9. i think, the centf‘éryj; g; 7177 if the migrants know that they will not succeed in coming over to the mediterranean, they will not go on the ships any more. they go on the ships and they try to cross the sea or two or something.

so if they know there is no way through, they will not go on the boats and there will be less people dying. that they are being pulled out it's that they are being pushed out by really very unpleasant people smugglers and they would still be coming anyway. now, are you sure that you're not jgasirgallh'uslsaylngf no, that's a clear no. because what we see is everywhere where the borders are closed, the migrants stop from coming. when we stopped the balkan borders, they stopped from coming because they knew there's no way through any more. and that's the same thing with the mediterranean. that's the same thing. if they know there is no way through, they will stop coming over and trying to reach the goal what they are going for.

and there will be one group of migrants, there will be, for at least a month, maybe two months, migrants coming and drowning, before the word gets back to those in libya or elsewhere, that you can't come any more because the rescue boats have gone. no, the rescue... what the rescue boats should do, they should pick them up and bring them back, of course. we don't want to have, to see people drowning in the mediterranean. that's very clear. this is not what we want. no one wants that. but they, to rescue them, you don't have to take them over, basically fret?! theflibyg’n'i what has to be done is they have to be brought back to the libyan 2:9 elf/z: ii?! sh; . 31! »~~£; 5:22 4~~ §;h,,,, f ,,,,,, that's very clear. ok, now, this is very interesting because one of the problems is,