The Italian government on Monday approved a package of measures to combat illegal immigration. Accordingly, the maximum possible period of detention of irregular immigrants in Italy under European rules can be extended to 18 months. The government has also ordered the Defense Ministry to set up centers for the deportation of migrants.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the centers would be built in places with low population density where fencing and monitoring are easy. According to a government announcement, the Council of Ministers wants to address the issue of unaccompanied minors next week. “Our goal is to protect minors. We want to prevent this so that, as happens now, everyone can be integrated into the reception system created for minors with simple self-certification,” Meloni stressed at the opening of the Council of Ministers meeting in Rome.
Meloni was accompanied on Sunday by EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen lampedusa Visited. Von der Leyen presented a common European emergency plan to deal with the refugee crisis. With the help of the ten-point programme, asylum seekers are to be better distributed among European countries and mass influx of migrants is to be prevented.
