10th Feb 2017 18:18
ROME (Alliance News) - The Italian government on Friday approved new measures to speed up the processing of asylum claims as well as the repatriation of migrants who cross the Mediterranean in a bid to reach Europe.
Italy is often the first landfall for migrants setting off from the coasts of Libya.
The packet includes setting up special sections in 12 different courts to deal with asylum claims - which currently take up to two years to make their way through the Italian legal system - and replacing Italy's Identification and Expulsion Centers (CIEs)Â with 18 Permanent Repatriation Centers across the country.
Unlike the CIEs, which have been plagued with reports of overcrowding and sometimes violent protests, the new repatriation centers will host a maximum of 100 people, and the prisons ombudsman will have unlimited access.
"Our strategic objective is not to close our doors but to transform migration" from a criminally controlled racket into a safe, orderly flow "that does not put lives at risk,"Â Primer Minister Paolo Gentiloni told reporters at a press conference.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported 11,169 migrants and refugees entered Europe in 2017 by sea as of February 8, with 85% arriving in Italy and the rest in Greece. This compares with 76,395 arrivals in the first 39 days of 2016.
A total of 258 people died in the crossing, the IOM said.
Copyright dpa