Opponents of pre-removal centres 'against security' -Molteni

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 22 - Opponents of the creation in Italy of 10 new pre-removal detention centres (CPR) for irregular migrants awaiting repatriation are "against security in the country", Interior Undersecretary Nicola Molteni said on Friday.
    "The ten existing CPR in Italy currently have about 1,200 places, but only between 600 and 700 are actually available," continued Molteni, of the right-wing government coalition partner League.
    "We are strong supporters of the need to set up these policed and protected centres in order to remove individuals with convictions and who represent a danger to the country," he said.
    On Monday the government of Premier Giorgia Meloni approved a decree providing for the creation of 10 additional CPR in Italy in order to have a facility in every region as part of attempts to stem the arrival of migrants and refugees from Africa.
    The situation, said Molteni, "is absolutely exceptional and urgenct. Tunisia is on the brink of economic, social and financial bankruptcy. Italy has been left alone by the EU institutions. Someone has not understood that those who land in Lampedusa land in Europe".
    "The CPR are part of this path and are needed to stop illegal immigration, remove those who are a threat and a problem for national security and, at the same time, support those who are genuinely fleeing for humanitarian reasons," concluded the undersecretary.
    The government has tasked the defence ministry with identifying sites for the new pre-removal centres amid criticism and opposition from regional and local authorities across the political spectrum. (ANSA).