Ansamed

(ANSAmed) - LECCE, AUGUST 12 - Italy has opened up contacts with Greek and Turkish police in order to avoid illegal immigrants from departing from those countries and arriving to the coasts of the Salento Peninsula. This was explained in Lecce by Interior Ministry Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, who led a meeting today of the provincial committee for public order and safety on the immigration problem in the Southern Italian city, which was called following an increase in illegal immigrant arrivals to the area. "Since the boats in departure," explained Mantovano, "come from Turkey, with 16 out of 27 in 2010, while the others have come from Greece, our officials and officers from Italy are contacting Greek and Turkish police to establish a collaboration to avoid these departures and to carry out preventative efforts, which has worked well and continues to work with states like Albania and Libya." The Undersecretary underlined that "for some time investigations have been ongoing to regarding human traffickers, who are also present in Italy, and those who are organising these voyages, some of which have already had significant results in recent weeks". Yesterday the Financial Police found 44 Afghanis, including women and children, who departed on a sailboat about 6 miles from Gallipoli. Two Turkish citizens were navigating the sailboat, the fifth of its kind that has been stopped for trafficking immigrants. In 2010, 870 immigrants arrived by boat to the Salento Peninsula.

According to Mantovano, the illegal immigrants landing on the coasts of the Salento Peninsula "are mostly Afghanis, Iraqis and Iranians. This means that they are coming from areas that are in difficulty, crisis and are undergoing hardships, which in theory, he added, would legitimise the recognition of a refugee statues or at least humanitarian protection".

"It is obvious," he continued, "that evaluations should be made on a case by case basis. What is certain, however, is that, differently from what was taking place ten years ago for those living in Albania, no one is vanishing. Everyone is being identified and sent to an identification or expulsion centre or a centre for asylum-seekers." (ANSAmed).