2011-02-14 12:24:15

Italy seeks support for Tunisian refugees


Italy's foreign minister on Monday called on Tunisia's new government to immediately redeploy sea patrols to stop would-be immigrants from reaching Italy. Franco Frattini was speaking in the wake of the arrival over the last few days of around 5,000 people - most of them Tunisian - on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

Italian officials have criticised the European Union for what they say is its failure to assist Italy with the recent influx

“It is foreseen in European legislation that a member state can make a request to apply the so-called temporary protection in the case of mass arrival of displaced persons from a neighbouring country,” says Christopher Hein, the head of the Italian Refugee Council.

“I would not say this is the ideal solution,” he told Vatican Radio. “A temporary protection means that everybody would be at least temporarily admitted and assisted, and we are not very sure about really the need of those who have arrived, if they really have the necessity of obtaining protection.”

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is in Tunisia for meetings with officials of the
interim government set up after a month of deadly protests forced the president of 23 years into exile a month ago.

Listen to the full interview by Charles Collins with Christopher Hein: RealAudioMP3







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