Justice Minister Andrea Orlando told
a Senate constitutional affairs committee hearing Wednesday that
Islamist terrorist organizations may be running migrants across
the Mediterranean in order to raise money for their extremist
causes.
"We believe organizations that aspire to exercise
sovereignty over certain territories cannot but fuel the
phenomenon (of migration)," Orlando said.
"They need to self-finance".
The minister went on to say that 26,218 refugees have
disembarked in Italy in the first four months this year, 6.4% of
them unaccompanied minors.
Orlando cited United Nations data showing a total of
137,000 people crossed the Mediterranean in the first six months
of 2015, an 83% increase over the same period last year.
The minister also said the government plans to abolish the
crime of illegal immigration from its penal code.
Criminalizing illegal immigration has proven "of limited if
not zero effectiveness as a deterrent," Orlando said.
"The threat of sanctions has not diminished the flow (of
refugees)," he said.
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