Italy Intent On Returning Recent Migrants To Their Homelands - Interior Minister

ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st August, 2020) Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said that the government intends to return illegal migrants who arrived in Italy by sea after the adoption of a decree to combat COVID-19 import to their homelands as soon as possible.

"We will ensure the protection of the health of our local population, economic migrants must know that there is no possibility of legalization for those who arrived in Italy after March 8," she said in an interview with the Corriere Della Sera newspaper.

In recent weeks, the flow of migrants from North African countries to the coast of Italy has increased sharply due to improved weather.

In July, almost 7,000 illegal immigrants landed in Italy, which is more than six times more than in July last year. The influx prompted authorities to send an additional unit of 400 soldiers to Sicily, where migrant centers are overflowing with scant coronavirus protection measures.

Lamorgese assured that all illegal immigrants landing on the Italian coast will be tested for coronavirus.

"July saw an unprecedented economic crisis which is leading to a particularly high number of departures from Tunisia by those trying to continue on to Europe," she said. According to the minister, she discussed the issue of the so-called Tunisian crisis with colleagues from France and the European Commission, as well as the leadership of the North African country itself.

According to the latest data from the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs, from January 1 to July 31, 2020, 13,700 migrants arrived in Italy by sea. In 2019, over the same period, this figure was some 3,800 thousand people, and over 18,500 arrived in 2018.