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Italy: 300 illegal immigrants transferred from Lampedusa after riot
(AKI) - Three hundred illegal immigrants were transferred from the southernmost Italian island of Lampedusa to holding centres elsewhere in Italy pending their deportation, Italy's interior ministry said on Thursday.The transfers came after rioters on Wednesday burned down an entire wing of Lampedusa's detention centre in protest at expulsion orders issued to 100 Tunisian illegal immigrants. After the riot, in which 50 people suffered smoke inhalation and other injuries, the interior ministry announced it intended to speed up deportations from Lampedusa. Wednesday riot and other protests on Lampedusa this year are the direct result of the Italian government's decision late last year to turn the facility into an expulsion centre instead of a temporary reception centre, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told Adnkronos International. "The Lampedusa centre has never previously seen such human fury, such self-harm, or arson attack. It was designed as a reception centre and a change in policy does not mean it is equipped to function as an expulsion centre," UNHCR spokeswoman Laura Boldrini told AKI . Posted by: Fred 2009-02-20 |
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