ROME, July 26 (AFP): The Italian government yesterday declared that the state of emergency over illegal immigration would be extended to cover the whole country.
Extending the state of emergency beyond a number of southern regions where it was already in force would allow the construction of new immigration centres to be fast-tracked, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said.
The number of illegal immigrants landing in the first half of the year has almost doubled since the same period last year, the minister said at a press conference in Rome.
Maroni said the authorities had counted the arrival of 10,611 illegal immigrants during the first six months of 2008 compared with 5,378 between January and June 2007.
The announcement was strongly condemned by opposition politicians.
"It is a deplorable decision," said Giancarlo Bressa of the Democratic Party.
"This government is incapable of dealing with the real and important issues and is trying to instil fear in the people."
"It is like a police state," said Rosy Bindi, vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies.
At his press conference Maroni tried to play down the significance of the move, saying it was a "technical measure" used in the past and designed to speed up administrative procedures involved in building reception centres for illegal immigrants.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been forced to defend his government's hardline stance on immigration.
The European Parliament has described moves to fingerprint gypsies, or Roma, as clearly discriminatory while the United Nations special rapporteur on racism, Doudou Diene, has said he was "extremely concerned" about the measures.
