Since then, the Italian Navy and Coast Guard have rescued 139,000 men, women and children at sea. The area they patrol extends over almost 17,000 square miles, about twice the size of New Jersey. They are there as part of Operation Mare Nostrum (“Our Sea” in Latin), conducted in coordination with Frontex, the European border management agency.

On Nov. 1, Mare Nostrum will be replaced by Operation Triton, for which only eight countries — Finland, Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Latvia, Malta and Iceland — have signed up. The European Union has allocated just $3.7 million to Triton. It won’t be much use. Which means that Italy will necessarily bear the brunt of this humanitarian crisis.

And for all the ribbing we Italians get about our armed forces, I have no doubt that we’re up to the challenge. Catia Pellegrino, the commander of the Libra, an Italian Navy patrol vessel, has taken part in many rescues. “It’s not so strange to train for war and end up saving lives,” she said. “We make no distinction between Italians on Italian soil and foreigners in difficulty at sea. It’s someone who needs to be rescued.” She added, “We are at sea to serve our country and help those in need.”

A few days ago, I met some of those needy people at Milan’s central train station. They had arrived from the south and were heading north; Scandinavia was a favorite destination. Among them was Muhammad Ammam, a 23-year-old cabinetmaker from Idlib, Syria, who sailed from the port of Zuwarah, Libya. The Italian Navy fished him out of the sea after three days. Another traveler, Adham Affas, 28, told me that he had spent 12 days adrift before he was picked up. Neither tried to tell me jokes about the Italian armed forces.

The Italian talent for rescue operations and military policing is not a recent development. These are activities that require dedication, insight, adaptability, presence of mind and empathy. Italians — not just Italian soldiers — dislike regulations, which we regard as cold. We like personal relations, which to us are warm. National character is also a question of temperature.