The total number of immigrants
arriving in Italy in 2015 could reach 200,000 in 2015,
surpassing the 2013 and 2014 annual figure of 170,000, said
Giovanni Pinto, Director of Central Immigration and Border
Police, on Tuesday.
"We're facing a situation without precedent," Pinto said.
"I spoke with UN refugee agency personnel and they told me
that in Niger and Nigeria they're preparing camps for 500,000
displaced people," Pinto said, referring to those fleeing Boko
Haram militants.
Earlier this year, Italy's Foreign Ministry said that the
170,000 immigrants who disembarked on Italian coasts in 2014
represented 61% of the the European Union total of 278,000, and
that the number of asylum requests - 70,000 - represented a 140%
increase over 2013 figures.
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