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Italy Deports 25
African Migrants
By THE ASSOCIATED
PRESS
Filed at 9:44 p.m. ET
ROME (AP) -- Italy deported most of the African migrants who arrived
on a ship operated by a German relief agency, putting 25 of them on
a plane to Ghana Thursday and drawing protests from humanitarian
agencies and opposition politicians.
A handful of others who were taken off the plane for causing a
disturbance also will be expelled, officials said, in a case that
highlighted the issue of illegal immigration in Europe.
The deportees were part of a group of 37 Africans permitted to dock
in Sicily on July 12 after a diplomatic stalemate. The German vessel
had plied the Mediterranean for weeks in search of a friendly port.
Five of the Africans on board were flown out Tuesday night.
The ship's operator, the Cologne, Germany-based relief agency Cap
Anamur, said it rescued the Africans at sea on June 20 and some had
identified themselves as refugees from Sudan's Darfur region, which
the United Nations says is suffering the world's worst humanitarian
crisis.
Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu told parliament Wednesday
that ``scrupulous investigation by police'' ascertained that none
was from Sudan and none deserved asylum. He said six were from
Nigeria and 31 from Ghana.
A disturbance on the plane delayed the aircraft's departure by two
hours, said a senior government official, speaking on usual grounds
of anonymity.
The Interior Ministry said Thursday night that one Nigerian had been
granted permission to stay in return for cooperating with Italian
authorities investigating the ship's voyage. The six other would-be
immigrants will be expelled ``on the first possible flight,'' the
ministry said. It was not immediately clear how many of the six were
those who had been pulled off the plane.
The Nigerian, who was granted permission to stay in Italy, told
private TG5 TV on Thursday that before leaving Libya, the 37 were
told by a smuggler to say they were Sudanese when they arrived in
Italy. The Nigerian said he had paid the smuggler $1,000 to make the
trip.
``His declarations (to authorities) allowed, in fact, a prompt
reconstruction of the facts of the voyage and, above all, of the
criminal activities of the organizers,'' the ministry said.
The government of Premier Silvio Berlusconi has promised to crack
down on illegal immigration and stem the flow of refugees reaching
its shorelines. A measure passed last year requires immigrants to
have guaranteed jobs.
Even so, thousands of desperate immigrants set sail for Italian
shores, many in small dinghies or rickety fishing boats, in hopes of
slipping ashore undetected. Other European Union countries with long
shorelines such as Spain and Greece face similar problems.
Humanitarian groups and opposition politicians have accused
authorities of being overly harsh.
The Italian refugee group CIR said the expulsions caused ``deep
pain'' and that they were carried out ``without any sense of pity,
without any consideration for the dignity and elementary rights of
every person.''
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