Boatload of 650 is tipping point
Italy will send back illegal invaderswho arrive on its shores starting from Tuesday, that country’s interiorministry has announced.
The decision came after an unexpected wave of invaders around Christmas overwhelmed its holding centres.
Thirty eight Egyptians will be flown toCairo on Tuesday, the first group to be deported under the new planannounced by Italy’s government which has made cracking down on illegalimmigration a top priority since coming to power in May.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, amember of the anti-immigration Northern League, said Italy faced anemergency after some 2,000 invaders arrived on the southern island ofLampedusa since Christmas.
“I have arranged for the activation of a centre suitable for identification and expulsion,” Maroni told Italian radio.
Italy’s long shoreline and proximity toAfrica makes it a popular invasion point into Europe for thousands ofAfricans, fleeing their own countries which are self-created wrecks.They sail in rickety, crowded boats each year, many perishing along theway.
The number of invaders who have arrivedon Italian shores nearly doubled in the first seven months of the year,prompting Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government to declare anationwide state of emergency in July.