Normal
0
14
false
false
false
IT
X-NONE
X-NONE
MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:”Tabella normale”;
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:””;
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”;
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
Italian MPs have backed a plan to fine illegal immigrants up to 10,000
euros ($13,000), as the government continues to tighten immigration controls.
The lower house overwhelmingly backed the bill, which also proposes jailing
those who rent houses to illegal immigrants for up to three years.
The bill still needs to be approved in the Senate before it can become law.
Italy has just introduced a policy of returning boatloads of migrants to
Libya before they can claim asylum.
The move has attracted criticism, with the UN’s refugee agency and the
Vatican both saying the move was a breach of international law.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sparked further controversy when he
defended the decision by saying he did not want to see a
"multi-ethnic" Italy.
"The left’s idea is of a multi-ethnic Italy. That’s not our idea, ours
is to welcome only those who meet the conditions for political asylum," he
told a news conference at the weekend.
Public backing
The government says it faces an unmanageable flood of immigrants, many
arriving on outlying islands which do not have the means to cope.
More than 36,000 migrants landed on the shores of Italy last year – an
increase of about 75% on the year before.
The BBC’s Duncan Kennedy, in Rome, says many Italians believe their country
is being left on its own by the European Union to deal with the problem of
immigration.
And many are now ready to support stricter measures to control the flow of
people into their country, our correspondent adds.
Mr Berlusconi’s centre-right coalition ensured the bill’s speedy passage
through lower house by turning it into a vote of confidence in the government.
While 316 MPs backed the bill, 258 voted against. It will now go to the
Senate.
Vigilante groups
Rocco Buttiglione, a centre-right MP, said the law would bring
"slavery" to Italy by creating a class of workers without any rights.
He warned that rather than turning to police when they need to, migrants
would turn to the Mafia or vigilante justice.
Other measures in the government’s security and crime legislation include a
register of homeless people, citizens’ vigilante patrols, and up to three years
in prison for anyone who insults the police.
Critics say the right-wing government is targeting especially immigrants and
Roma (Gypsies).
But Manuela del Lago of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, which
spearheaded the legislation, said Italy was embarking on the right path.
"We don’t understand why we have to keep them all here and in other
countries they don’t take anyone," she said.