Govt calls immigration emergency

Rome, July 25 - The cabinet on Friday declared a national state of emergency regarding ''the persistent and exceptional influx'' of illegal immigrants into Italy in a bid to ''contain and manage'' the phenomenon. Government immigration department head Mario Morcone stressed the step was an extension of local states of emergency declared in February by the last government for Puglia, Sicily and Calabria - the southern regions through which most non-EU immigrants enter the country. ''The exceptional influx of would-be immigrants and asylum-seekers, above all from Somalia and Eritrea, has made it necessary to send people who land on the (Sicilian island of) Lampedusa and the southern coast to other holding centres elsewhere in Italy,'' Morcone explained. The nationwide extension of the state of emergency will facilitate regions'... [read full story]