Italy continues talks with Tunisian gov't to stop migrant flood

Italy continues talks with Tunisian gov't to stop migrant flood

2011-04-05 22:57:54 GMT+7 (ICT)

TUNIS, TUNISIA (BNO NEWS) -- The Italian government continued talks with Tunisian authorities on Tuesday after a visit by Premier Silvio Berlusconi failed to reach an agreement on illegal immigration, ANSA news agency reported.

"We are here to conclude the agreement," said Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, who returned to Tunis Tuesday to continue negotiations after he accompanied Berlusconi Monday.

Italy wants Tunis to intensify controls of its maritime borders to stop the flow of migrants. Italy is also seeking an agreement for the repatriation of Tunisian migrants, who form the overwhelming majority of 20,000 to have arrived this year following a wave of unrest in North Africa.

The Italian government has reportedly offered a credit-and-aid package worth some 250 million euros ($354 million) to help the Tunisian government with the migrant crisis.

About 917 migrants, approximately half from Tunisia and half from conflict-hit Libya, arrived in the southern island of Lampedusa late on Monday and early on Tuesday. The new arrivals have taken the number of migrants there back up to around 1,500, according to ANSA.

Last week, some 6000 migrants were relocated to camps in other parts of Italy. The dense overcrowding in the island has caused severe food shortage among new arrivals, high tension, and local protests.

Prime Minsiter Silvio Berlusconi has said that repatriation seems the main solution for Tunisian migrants but due to the lack of support from the European Union, issuing temporary permits for migrants that would enable them to roam EU Member States might be an option as well.

France has been blocking the entrance of Tunisian migrants at the French-Italian border which caused tensions between the two nations. European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom reprimanded France for turning back the migrants at its border.

The French government said it has the right to stop undocumented migrants without breaking the Schengen Agreement that abolished border controls in much of mainland Europe.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament voted to approve a motion calling on the EU and its member states to give Italy greater support in managing the crisis.

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