The Italian parliament has passed a controversial law aimed at deterring illegal immigration through measures including fines of thousands of dollars. The law, which was passed by 297 votes to 255 with three abstentions, creates an offence of illegal entry or residence on Italian soil punishable by fines of between $6,750 and $13,500.
The vote came as the government of Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's prime minister, was already under fire for sending would-be immigrants back to Libya last week without allowing them to apply for asylum.
Italy presented Libya with three patrol boats, the first of a total of six, to help intercept migrants at a ceremony in the Italian port town of Gaeta on Thursday.
The bill increases the period of detention of illegal immigrants for identification from two months to six and makes anyone letting accommodation to them liable to up to three months in jail.
Berlusconi, who claims 76 per cent popular support for the restrictions, said: "We are closing the doors [to immigration] and we will only half open them for those who come to work and to integrate."
The immigration provisions have been attacked by parties on the left, who accuse Berlusconi of harking back to the days of Benito Mussolini, the fascist dictator. Italian bishops have also expressed unease at the measures, which are designed to enable illegal immigrants to be brought rapidly before the courts and expelled from the country.
Read More At Al Jazeera
No comments:
Post a Comment