Senator Emma Bonino, Vice President of the Italian Senate said, “As the former humanitarian aid commissioner, I strongly believe the issue of Ashraf is not a technical matter. This is completely a political issue and we surely know how to protect 3,000 people. We have done this many times in the past and sometimes we have not. Therefore, this is not a technical issue. In fact it is a political matter and in our history we know that sometimes we surrendered and did not act based on our responsibilities.”
 “This is an issue of 3400 people,” she added.  “I believe that we have to emphasize the protection of these people over and over again.”