A number of members of the Italian senate, Italy’s upper chamber of parliament, have askedthat temporary residence permits to be given . . .[restrict]on humanitarian grounds to a number of illegal migrants who entered Italy from Libya last year. The island of Lampedusa had experienced successive waves of boats carrying illegal immigrants coming from Libya following the outbreak of the Libyan revolution.
The Italian senators, who signed the petition, held a press conference on Saturday. They include the Senators Vincenzo Vita, Roberto Dela Seta and deputy speaker Vannino Chiti. According to the coordinator of the National Assembly to Fight Racial Discrimination some about 25,000 refugees were staying at help centers of asylum seekers. “These are the Africans who were working in Libya at the outbreak of the revolution. It will only be fair to grant them residence permits for a year on humanitarian grounds according to the international conventions,” he said.
He highlighted a similar decision taken by the government of the former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi granting residence permits to migrants coming from Tunisia under an agreement with the Tunisian government.
The document contained an appeal for the same to Prime Minister Mario Monte and Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri and Minister of International Cooperation and Integration policies Andrea Ricardi. [/restrict]
